Inside Politics

UPDATED - Rights&DemocracyWatch: While we wait for that forensic audit report ...

... which, according to newly appointed president Gerard Latulippe, should be "finalized sometime in the month of June," here's a breakdown of exactly how the board managed to spend just over half a million dollars -- which represents close to five percent of the agency's total budget for the year -- not only on the audit itself, but an investigation into the conduct of now-former staff members, as well as legal services from three separate law firms, public relations courtesy of Peter Stockland and Prima Communications, nearly $3,000 in consulting fees for R&D board member Navarro-Genie and $56,700 in per diem payments to Jacques Gauthier, who charged $325 $1,000 per day during his tenure as interim president. Apparently, it was a 24/7 gig. Why, you could buy a reflecting pool for that money -- for three days, anyway.


UPDATE: Sorry about that -- I somehow managed to get thoroughly mixed up over the per diem rates. Gauthier charged $325 from January 15 to January 31 -- for the rest of the time, he charged $1,000 a day.  

Anyway, here are the details. Enjoy! 

(And stay tuned for an update on the state of the audit itself from Colleague Karina!) 

Status report posted! Read it here.

Tags: blackberry jungle, gerard latulippe, reflecting pools are the new metric, rights and democracy, worth every penny