Former privacy commissioner George Radwanski faced intense criticism as allegations of lavish lunches, costly travel, and a tax deal swirled. Now, his severance package is under attack.

CTV.ca News Staff

Former privacy commissioner George Radwanski faced intense criticism as allegations of lavish lunches, costly travel, and a tax deal swirled. Now, his severance package is under attack.

Embittered and unrepentant, Radwanski has denied raiding the public purse.

But facing investigation by a Commons committee for his hefty expense accounts, he quit his post Monday on word the committee would recommend he be fired.

Radwanski negotiated a $79,000 severance package -- four months salary plus cash in lieu of benefits. That deal is raising eyebrows.

"Now he gets a little bit of golden handshake at the end and taxpayers are saying 'I'm paying the bill.' When is it all going to end?" asks Walter Robinson of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

Some MPs are defending the so-called golden handshake, suggesting the government would have had to pay Radwanski for months had he decided to stay and fight.

"I don't think it would be such a bad thing . . . within the context of what we would have been paying if he had stayed on and fought for four months," says Liberal MP Reg Alcock, head of the committee.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation disagrees.

"Expense account extravagance in the real world where Canadian taxpayers live is just cause for dismissal. Period. Full stop. Two weeks notice -- don't let the door hit you on the way out," says Robinson.

The Prime Minister's Office has defended Radwanski's package, also arguing it would have cost as much to fire him.

There other voices on Parliament Hill saying the government was wrong to give the former privacy commissioner a severance, especially while an audit by Auditor General Sheila Fraser is underway.

"I'm disappointed," says Liberal MP Paul Szabo, who sits on the committee.

"I think it would have been important to put severance in abeyance until (Fraser's) work is complete. The whole story is not out and will not be out until they are finished their work."

"It's disgraceful," says NDP MP Pat Martin, a committee member. "If you canvass most Canadians, it would be a million out of a million that would speak against this."

Radwanski was unrepentant in a five-page resignation letter, claiming he was forced out and blaming the MPs who investigated his conduct for what he called a vicious and untrue assault on his character.

This despite exorbitant expense tabs, a $500,000 debt forgiven by Revenue Canada, accusations from the committee of lying, and an unprecedented protest by his own staff who picketed his office.

Radwanski says he was hamstrung by the committee that wouldn't give him the right to publicly defend himself against the allegations.

One of those MPs investigating Radwanski says the committee's report would set the record straight.

"It's a very serious matter to lie or mislead or present doctored documents to the House of Commons Committee that's the highest court in the land," says Canadian Alliance MP Paul Forseth.

The committee will meet Wednesday and is expected to release their report Thursday -- it should detail any evidence against Radwanski.

With reports from CTV's Joy Malbon and Canadian Press