OTTAWA — Prime Minister Paul Martin exercised his patronage prerogative again Monday, making his 15th and 16th appointments to the unelected Senate since becoming prime minister.
Martin rewarded Montrealer Francis Fox – one of the architects of his Liberal minority election win and former principal secretary – with a $119,300-a-year job.
In a campaign-style speech delivered to the Quebec City Chamber of Commerce, Martin promised he is “personally and profoundly committed to rapid and permanent changes in the way things are done in Ottawa.”
“We have declared all-out war against waste and mismanagement. We will put an end to cronyism,” the prime minister said in French.
“I am going to change the way Ottawa works,” he said. “This is not a slogan, this is reality. We are going to change the way government works. And we will do it come Hell or high water.”