Unpublished Newswire

The federal department that supports the prime minister, cabinet members and which is often at the heart of Ottawa’s machinations, spent millions of dollars on outside consultants for communications, marketing and research work last year despite employing hundreds of staff to do that work, according to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. The Privy Council Office (PCO) is the latest government department to draw criticism from the organization, which contends Mark Carney’s Liberal government continues to rely too heavily on contractors at a time when he promised to address “wasteful...