Standard operating proceedure

Earlier, we reported former deputy minister Lee Doney would be collecting his pension while working on a 10-month, $200,000 contract for the premier's office. As your humble organ has already observed, many senior retired bureaucrats do the same thing. But what does Mr. Doney think about the practice? In an interview yesterday with Public Eye, he defended such contracts, noting government is "asking (former civil servants) to come in and give up the opportunity to make money working in the private sector. And it's for short-term work. It's not like you're going to get five years of work out of this. We're talking ten months - shorter maybe." Mr. Doney also said his present contract "isn't a rich contract by any means...If you work 22 days a month, divided by a $20,000 retainer, it's less than $1,000 in an eight-hour day. And it's $150 an hour. As a deputy, I was probably making more than that."