OTTAWA - Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn granted a $25,000 contract to a staffer in his riding office who was already a full-time employee on the federal payroll, documents show.
The government paid Daniel Giguere $24,804 over a six-month contract as a speech writer while Giguere was employed as an adviser with an annual salary of $35,000, according to the documents obtained by The Canadian Press.
Giguere, a defeated Liberal candidate, left his job at Hydro-Quebec to become an adviser in Blackburn's riding in the winter of 2006. He remained on the job until last April.
Giguere received an annual salary of $35,000 for his work in Blackburn's Quebec riding of Jonquiere, according to Blackburn's spokeswoman.
Documents show the government also paid him $24,804 to edit speeches "on a contractual basis'' at the request of the minister.
Federal law clearly forbids granting contracts to people who are already on the federal payroll, as in Giguere's case.
Because the value of the contract is less than $25,000, a competitive bidding process was not necessary.
The contract and bills were approved by Blackburn's chief of staff, Michel Lalonde.
Blackburn's spokeswoman said in an e-mail that all Treasury Board rules were followed and the details of the contracts were divulged "to conform with all expectations of transparency and responsibility.''
The decision to hand out the contract left the opposition parties perplexed.
"As a minister, he already has a director of communications and a press attache,'' said Marcel Proulx, the Liberal critic of the Canada Economic Development agency.
"He already has competent civil servants in the communications offices of his departments, whether it's in labour or regional development.''
For the contract to be justified, Proulx said, "Mr. Giguere would have to have a very particular expertise. To my knowledge, Mr. Giguere is not at all an expert in an area that is not already covered by employees in Mr. Blackburn's departments.''
Proulx said the contract was clearly intended to boost Giguere's income after he quit a lucrative Hydro-Quebec job to join the minister's team.
Giguere delivered about 10 speeches for events such as local chamber of commerce dinners and parish breakfasts.
The speeches cost between $1,750 and $3,000 under the contract but many of them contained striking similarities.
The minister described the evolving economy of Quebec and the programs of the federal Canada Economic Development agency for Quebec regions in identical sentences.
It's not the first time Blackburn's human resources management has been called into question.
Last October, Blackburn was criticized for giving a $24,000 contract to an adviser who was then hired to work in his office.
Blackburn also made headlines recently after The Canadian Press revealed that he failed to account under his name for air travel totalling $150,000.
NDP MP Pat Martin says it shows Conservative negligence in managing public finances, even as they brag about transparency and accountability.
"These are small things that can bring down a minister,'' Martin said.
