Ottawa ― During yesterday’s heated Question Period, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty made a sarcastic and false claim about the Liberal MP for Kings-Hants, Scott Brison, flying business class from Ottawa to his riding. There are also discussions taking place that during these difficult economic times, MPs will be asked to forego flying first class and instead fly economy class.
In response to the subject of MP travel raised in Question Period, MP and Liberal Critic for Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Borys Wrzesnewskyj wanted to issue the following statement to his constituents of Etobicoke Centre:
“Not just during tough economic times facing Canadians today, but at all times, my constituents want to know that their Member of Parliament is being respectful and careful with their hard earned tax dollars. With this in mind, I am proud to state that since first being elected in 2004, it has been my personal policy to fly economy when I travel to Ottawa from the riding, or to national caucus meetings. Only once in 2006, when no economy class tickets were available on a connecting flight, I had to travel in business class. Since first being elected in June of 2004, of the approximate 150 flights that I have had to fly, all but one was economy class tickets. I believe this is the best record of any MP in the House of Commons,” said Wrzesnewskyj.
As well, during this time of economic uncertainty the Harper Conservative government needs to lead by example said Wrzesnewskyj.
In 2006 Prime Minister Harper’s Cabinet was made up of 26 ministers. During his first term in office he expanded that number to 31 ministers and just recently he added to that number yet again resulting in a 37 minister administration.
The Prime Minister’s new administration represents a 43 percent increase in salaries alone since 2006. This does not include all other incidental expenditures such as travel, office costs and staff salaries involved in the setup of a minister’s office. “If the Prime Minister is serious about cutting MP travel costs during these difficult times, he should put into storage 2 of the 3 Challenger jests being used by his ministers. One should lead by example.”
“Conservatives like to boast about their thrifty spending habits, but the reality is that they run up pretty expensive travel budgets as was disclosed by the Toronto Star,” explained Wrzesnewskyj. “We witnessed significant increases in 10 of 12 ministries from the previous Liberal government when it comes to average travel and hospitality expenses,” he added.
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For further information contact: Borys Wrzesnewskyj, M.P. (613) 947-5000
