Up half-way to the crack of noon with a very weird bug that is going around - all ache and weary, no sneezy - I was shocked to see that the per diem for John Manley is $1,200 and $1,400 a day, according to The Globe and Mail:
Former deputy prime minister John Manley, who was appointed last week to head a five-member panel of eminent persons investigating the future of Canada's mission in Afghanistan, will be paid between $1,200 and $1,400 a day by the federal government for his trouble. According to orders-in-council published by the Privy Council Office, the four other panel members will be getting a per-diem of $850 to $1,000. All five have been appointed to the position of "special advisers to the prime minister" as members of what is known officially as the Independent Panel on Canada's Future Role in Afghanistan.For an eight-hour day, that's $150 to $175 an hour. Good luck getting a third year lawyer in Toronto to do your divorce work for you for that little. This is not to defend the cost of lawyers but merely to describe it. And I'd bet it's less than three times the hourly rate for auto body repair and less than the labour cost the day my roof was reshingled. And Manley is supposed to recommend when the nation's role in a war might end.
So...is this a story at all? I don't think it is. I was thinking about what is a story and what makes for good news when I was listening this week to the NCPR annual fall membership drive. What I think draws me to National Public Radio and how they cover the news whether it is a story with country-wide or local implications, it is that they focus on the story. It is more relevant to me even though it is another country because there is a story being told.
I remember once, when discussing creating a community radio station on PEI, someone mentioned the "CBC 100" and I thought that encapsulated how disastrously wrong our news media had become in Canada and in particularly the CBC. There is a focus on issues, themes and personalities. But not story finding. You see it all the time. This may be due to lack of resources rather than intention but good investigative reporting does two things - we all know it drives past the press release but it also shows how an event is relevant by showing how (not simply stating that) it touches the lives of individuals like each of us. Bad story telling, conversely, is that which goes back to the same people to find out what they are thinking and then deciding that that is the relevant issue of the day. Or, worse, deciding what an issue is and what the angle is and then finding someone to back up that position.
So is it a story? Is it news?
Comments
Rick Pali - October 18, 2007 2:01 PM
Okay, wait a sec. Is this per diem the entirety of his compensation? The way I've always understood the meaning of 'per diem' is that it's for extra expenses. If your employer sends you to China for a week to meet a client, you still get your normal pay, but in addition, you get a per diem to cover meals and other incidental expenses.
I ask this because the lawyer and the mechanic get no per diem. Rather they just get paid. If this is Manley's pay, I don't see any story. If it is his per diem in the sense I understand it, there is a story. What expenses does he have to the total of $1200 a day? Heck, he could go to Afghanistan and still not blow through that kind of money.
sean liddle - October 18, 2007 2:41 PM
If thats his standard daily rate for an 8 hour day it certainly isn't off base as far as a senior consultant charge our rate goes.
Gordo - October 18, 2007 3:07 PM
To quote the Wiki Oracle: "Per diem, is Latin for "per day" or "for each day". It usually refers to the daily rate of any kind of payment. It may also refer to a specific amount of money that an organization allows an individual to spend per day, to cover living and travelling expenses in connection with work."
Gordo - October 18, 2007 3:08 PM
And no, there's no story here.
There might be in my captcha, though: "surprising booby"
BWAHAHAHA
David Janes - October 18, 2007 3:38 PM
I got "fur pick", which may be better than the "surprising booby".
My understanding of the phrase "per-diem" is to meam cover expenses, not salary. I think the G&M is using the term incorrectly.
If it's his salary per-diem, it's not that great a deal in the big scheme of things. If I was still doing business consulting, I'd be up there and I'm by no means a top-tier charger.
If it's an expenses per-diem -- which are often made tax free -- it's be pretty over the top; the equivalent of 500,000/year bonus.
Alan - October 18, 2007 4:28 PM
I worked on the Spicer Commission for the Mulroney Government back in, what, 1991? I was the student representative for Nova Scotia. I got a per diem and that was it.
"Floral talk."
Ben (The Tiger) - October 18, 2007 5:11 PM
This gets back to the old argument over whether politicians should be paid more.
When I was little, and I only saw the salaries that public servants made, I was outraged at the thought. Now that I know what salaries most are giving up in the private sector, I think it's a fair point.
"only heartfelt"
Alan - October 18, 2007 5:59 PM
But this is Manley the consultant. So he is getting paid for services, not as a representative of anything. I wonder what his actual hourly rate is. The real story is that he is giving up half his work days to provide services to the nation at a great discount.
"Government arrives"
David Janes - October 18, 2007 8:41 PM
"finn tightly". Christ, this stuff just writes itself. Why even have discussion topics anymore?
Temujin - October 18, 2007 9:16 PM
<i>When I was little, and I only saw the salaries that public servants made, I was outraged at the thought. Now that I know what salaries most are giving up in the private sector, I think it's a fair point.</i>
Except in the private sector those services are requested and paid for by the same person using his/her own funds. Whereas with government...
Alan - October 18, 2007 9:30 PM
<i>...Except in the private sector those services are requested and paid for by the same person using his/her own funds...</i><p>Maybe I am not getting your point but you do know there are private sector bureaucracies with procurement officers, right?
Ben (The Tiger) - October 18, 2007 10:32 PM
Was just here to read replies, not to post one, but I had to share:
"perform debating"
Jay Currie - October 19, 2007 3:05 AM
Cheap compared to private sector, about as much as can be disclosed to the Canadian public without it becoming an issue in itself.
The boys down at Timmy's are not going to stand for "that Murdstone" making four grand a day. No siree. (Another bit of Canadian imbecility brought to you by "Use your Captcha in a sentence".)
Temujin - October 19, 2007 1:48 PM
<i>Maybe I am not getting your point but you do know there are private sector bureaucracies with procurement officers, right?</i>
That may very well be so :-) Nonetheless, Mr Manley isn't advising me of anything, yet he receives a daily salary that is three to five times what mine is (depending on how good of a day I'm having!), and we all have to foot the bill. Now I know that my meager contributions to the taxman isn't close to what some other have to "contribute", but I still cannot help but get miffed by the lavishness bestown upon anyone associated in the public sector.
Alan - October 19, 2007 2:00 PM
I think you have a misunderstanding of Mr. Manley's likely private practice rates. If you want to make a good living be a consultant to the private sector. That is where you get by far the best hourly rates and generous scoping of tasks.
sean liddle - October 19, 2007 4:59 PM
Being a consultant, I make less that what a doctor makes and less than what a doctor makes. I am jealous of their nicer cars and nicer homes and cottages but I do not begrudge them what they make because it was my choice to not become a doctor or a lawyer. You also need to take into account that a charge out rate is not take home pay. a percentage goes to pay bills, fees of admin people, taxes, office rental space, bribes and hookers etc. $150 an hour chargeout rate translates into about $60 an hour pay, which is about $125k/year. Pretty average for upper management of a consultancy.