The provincial government's decision to hire outside consultants to study a series of issues is sending the wrong message to taxpayers, according to critics.

Provincial government documents, obtained by Radio-Canada Acadie, detail how much taxpayers have been charged for various commissions and consultations led by individuals under the present and past governments.

Many critics say hiring outside, partisan consultants is a waste of taxpayer money.

"When you use these high paid consultants it's saying one of two things — either you don't trust the advice that you're getting from the civil servants because it's been politicized ... or you think they're incompetent or not capable," said Michael Camp, a professor at St. Thomas University in Fredericton.

The documents show the salaries that were paid in several recent commissions:

• Rick Miner, $52,908, post-secondary education 2007
• Jean-Guy Finn, $125,000, local governance 2008
• Gino LeBlanc, $162,125, French education system 2009
• Bill Thompson, $46,707 and Jeannot Volpé, $43,811, energy 2011
• Louis LaPierre, $24,860, shale gas regulations 2012

NDP Leader Dominic Cardy said outside consultants should only be called on when there is no expertise within the civil service.

"I think that's a sad comment on how distorted everyone's perception has become of what the civil service is supposed to be, it's supposed to be a body that provides impartial advice," Cardy said.

Cardy said both Liberal and Progressive Conservative governments in New Brunswick are guilty of hiring friends and party members to lead commissions.

Green Party Leader David Coon said provincial taxpayers should not be on the hook for bills paid to friends of the governing party.

"We shouldn't have to pay extra money to bring in other people from outside who sometimes are friends of the government, sometimes aren't friends of the government to run these commissions," Coon said.

"There's too many of them and it's a waste of money."

Not all commissions created equal

Bill Thompson and Jeannot Volpé released a report in 2011 on the province's future energy policy. (CBC)

Liberal MLA Roger Melanson said each commission should be looked at individually.

He argued the Gino LeBlanc report on how to improve education in the French school system, which was completed under the Shawn Graham Liberal government, was very useful.

"I think it was quite valuable to improve some of the educational curriculum for the francophones in New Brunswick and the Liberal government followed up on it and the present government actually did follow up on it," Melanson said.

He said it's a different story for the energy commission that was completed by the current Progressive Conservative government.

"If you look at the Jeannot Volpé report on the energy file and [Bill] Thompson ... you know these are all people that are partisan."