 At a December 2008 dinner at the Toronto Club, eight people had meals and ordered two bottles of Veuve Clicqout champagne, five bottles of wine and more for a booze bill of $456. (Craig Robertson, QMI Agency)
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TORONTO - The Liquor Control Board of Ontario regularly knocked back champagne, liquor and pricey bottles of wine -- not always from Ontario -- while conducting meetings at the tony Toronto Club and Chiado restaurant, according to documents obtained by the Toronto Sun through freedom of information.
One "pre-board meeting dinner" in January 2009 racked up a $458-booze bill, part of the overall $1,436 tab, while another similar gathering at Chiado in August 2007 set taxpayers back $1,397, according to expenses filed by board chairman Philip Olsson.
"That was then, this is now. Things have changed," LCBO spokesman Chris Layton said, in explaining that new rules that came into effect last September outlaw executives or board members at government agencies from expensing alcohol.
"It was allowed under the previous policy."
Premier Dalton McGuinty, angered at embarrassing expenses at the Ontario Lotteries & Gaming Corp., last fall ordered the 25 largest government agencies, boards and commissions to ban alcohol and hospitality expenses, and have all expenses vetted by the integrity commissioner.
The Sun obtained Olsson's expenses, beginning in January 2007 until May 2009, through a freedom of information request. Olsson, with a background as an investment banker, was either chairman or acting chairman in the period covered.
He joined the board as vice-chairman in '04.
The records show Olsson receives comparatively little in total compensation -- he was paid about $78,000 total over the 30 months the records cover, and makes less than $20,000 a year in per diem payments for his board work. He donates at least that much to the United Way each year, Layton said.
But over the same time, he expensed a total of $12,786 in meals and entertainment -- a significant portion of which was devoted to seven "pre-board dinners," which ranged in cost from $832 to $1,602.
Layton said the idea of the dinners was to nail down the agenda and "fine tune" things for the next day's board meeting. Most were held at the downtown Toronto Club, where Olsson has a membership and the board could meet in a private room.
"This is a pretty serious board, in terms of ensuring that they cover the necessary ground at the board meetings," Layton said.
"Phil Olsson is a pretty serious guy. He wants to make sure it all goes bang bang bang bang."
But the itemized bills indicate there was more than just work on the menu. At the December 2008 dinner, eight people had meals and ordered two bottles of Veuve Clicqout champagne and five bottles of wine, along with Tio Pepe, Grand Marnier and Calvados apple brandy liqueur, for a booze bill of $456.
Seven people took in the January 2009 dinner and were served seven bottles of wine, including Cattier champagne and a $78 bottle of Riesling. The alcohol cost $495 and the waiter took home a $195 tip.
"You can't assume that all the alcohol that was served was consumed," Layton said. "That might be how much liquor was present, but they are all responsible business people and they are there to cover ground."
Olsson has turned in good results since taking on the LCBO -- sales are up 20% and the government has seen more than $6 billion in dividends over the past five years.
"While he's been at the helm, the place has really moved forward," Layton said. "He's certainly added something."
Besides wining and dining his own board members, Olsson also broke bread with cabinet ministers.
He had dinner with then-energy and infrastructure minister David Caplan at Morton's, The Steakhouse in '07; a $352 dinner at Truffles with then-tourism minister Monique Smith in '08 was reimbursed to the LCBO by Smith after she was informed it would be included in the freedom of information request.
A look at the LCBO board's wining and dining:
St. Joseph "Les Royes" 1998
Barbaresco Serraboella 1999
Duval Leroy Brut
Cattier Brut champagne
Crown Royal
jonathan.jenkins@sunmedia.ca
