Joe Couture, The Starphoenix, April 2, 2014
Saskatchewan Social Services Minister June Draude came under fire Wednesday after it was revealed her expenses for an overseas trip last summer included more than $3,600 for a car service and over $200 for lunch with a friend.
“We think this shows a growing sense of entitlement,” Opposition social services critic David Forbes told reporters in Regina. “We think this amount for transportation is really high, excessively high.”
The Opposition NDP in question period raised concerns arising from detailed expense reports on a trip Draude, accompanied by cabinet secretary Rick Mantey, made to Ghana last summer. The trip also involved several days spent in England.
The London portion of the trip included the particularly concerning aspects, said Forbes. The pair was in that city between June 12 and June 16. During that time, Draude and Mantey spent more than $3,600 in public money on a car service, plus almost $1,900 each at a four-star luxury hotel. Mantey listed more than $200 for a lunch with Draude and her friend from Saskatchewan.
Defending the expenses after question period, Draude said she wasn’t aware the lunch was charged to taxpayers and said she would pay it back. Government spokesperson Kathy Young said later in the day that the lunch was inadvertently included in the expense report and that the cost of it would be paid back by Mantey.
The trip cost more than $18,000 in total. Draude revealed to reporters that the London leg of the journey was added to the trip to Ghana — where she spoke at a conference on fetal alcohol spectrum disorder — to save the cost of flying back to Saskatchewan only to travel to Prince Edward Island days later. The Sask. Party government minister said she scheduled five or six meetings while in London.
Mantey’s flights cost more than $4,300, while Draude’s cost over $2,600 — Young explained later in the day that Mantey chose to fly business class, an option available to ministers and officials travelling overseas, while Draude chose to fly economy class.
Draude also said she saved money by staying with a friend during most of her time in Ghana. Regarding the pricey car service, Draude said it wasn’t what she would consider a limousine and she was advised that such an arrangement was the typical way of getting around in a place like London — although she couldn’t say whether it was common for other government ministers to employ such services.
“Whenever I go out of the country or out of the province, I’m very aware that I’m spending taxpayers’ dollars. It’s really important to me to be conscious of the fact that these are hard-earned, taxpayers’ dollars,” the minister told reporters.
Forbes, however, said the Opposition requests, under freedom of information laws, all travel expenses for provincial government politicians going overseas — and the claims for the journey by Draude and Mantey are the most troubling.
“This really stuck out for us,” he said. “This one had red flags all over it.”
Draude said she had meetings during the trip about fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, disabilities, housing and other issues relevant to her government work. There weren’t any reports produced as a result of the trip and Draude struggled to list any specific benefits for Saskatchewan resulting from the meetings she had.
BY THE NUMBERS
What was taxpayer money spent on during Draude’s overseas trip?
$3,634.33 — car service for Draude and Mantey while in London
$4,366.43 — Mantey’s flights to Ghana and England; chose business class
$2,696.80 — Draude’s flight’s to Ghana and England; chose economy class
$1,864.56 — Draude’s four-star hotel in London; Mantey’s similar
$206.06 — improperly claimed personal lunch with Draude’s friend