The former ombudsman for federal prison inmates often skipped work and collected $325,000 in improper or questionable salary, vacation pay and expenses over a 14-year period, Auditor General Sheila Fraser alleges.
The latest report by Fraser, whose previous work blew open the federal sponsorship scandal, examined a wide range of government programs, practices and spending. It found serious problems with controls of public servants' charge cards and safety regulations at Health Canada.
Ron Stewart, a former star CFL football star who retired from the Correctional Service of Canada in 2004, repeatedly failed to attend staff meetings, was frequently unavailable to aides and otherwise shirked his duties, Fraser concluded in her report released Tuesday.
"Obviously, he [Stewart] was not at his office a lot and received wages for work he didn't do," Fraser told reporters after the report's release.
She also found that Stewart, who once played for the now-defunct Ottawa Rough Riders, charged the government for hospitality and travel apparently unrelated to his work, including five trips to cities hosting Grey Cup games, and was awarded hefty bonuses disguised as overtime pay.
"The transactions are very disturbing; his behaviour is disturbing, but what I think is even more disturbing is that it did go on for so long and that no one ever reported suspicions of wrongdoing," Fraser said.
Is that recent enough?