Feds spend $4 million on media training, coaching services for civil servants
OTTAWA — The federal government spent just over $4 million on outside coaching services for non-partisan public servants in the year since the Liberals came to power.
That includes money for media training by external consultants — even though government departments and agencies have dedicated spokespeople — and other coaching services meant to help bureaucrats develop leadership skills, resolve workplace conflicts, manage stress and even get ready for promotions to other jobs within government.
The details are contained in a response to an order paper question submitted by Conservative MP Jamie Schmale.
The figures cover the period from Nov. 4, 2015 — when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet ministers were sworn in — to mid-October this year.