Last seen being dragged kicking and screaming from their expense accounts…
According to a quarterly disclosure report, McLellan, the deputy PM in the Paul Martin government .who was defeated in her city riding, billed taxpayers $1,265 for a dozen employees to dine at the exclusive Rideau Club in Ottawa on Feb. 2 – nearly two weeks after she was voted out of office.
Meanwhile, ex-public works minister Scott Brison claimed $1,245 for two dinners at the swanky Italian eatery Mama Theresa’s after the Jan. 23 Grit defeat.
Meanwhile;
Immigration Minister Monte Solberg claimed $5.49 for a breakfast for two at the Lobby Lounge and a $16.71 lunch for two at Subway, while Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day hosted a lunch for three for less than $30…
(Via Maz2 in the comments.)
The overwhelming majority of taxpayers pay for their own meals, all of them. I think it is time to end taxpayer funding of government AND corporate welfare in this area. Save welfare for the truly needy.
The overwhelming majority of taxpayers pay for their own meals, all of them. I think it is time to end taxpayer funding of government AND corporate welfare in this area. Save welfare for the truly needy.
Absolutely shockingly disgusting.
What these “entitled” LIEberals spend {of TAX PAYERS MONEY} on lunch could feed a family of four for a week or even longer! They are such an arrogant bunch of losers they make me want to puke! Is it a prerequisite to have an IQ of less than 25 to be a LIEberal? One would think. Dave, the waiter, maybe if you continued with your education or at least got your grade eight, you wouldn’t have to be waiting tables. You could have a real job complete with “entitlements”!
As a taxpayer Id gladly foot the bill for another 100 liberal farewell lunches even at a grand a pop.
how many can we get before their big entitlements kick in.
at least Scooter Brison wont have a spousal RRSP to fish off some of his benefits too.
steve d said: “Save welfare for the truly needy.” +
Coffin received $1.6 million from AdScam Chretien/Martin over 6 years.
Where is the $1.6 million stashed? Where is Joe Enforcer Morselli stashed? +
“If he doesn’t appeal, Coffin will become the first person involved in the sponsorship scandal to do actual jail time.” +
http://www.paulding.net/bin/url.cgi/13245.12
Nothing more contemptuous than having to pay for a party you weren’t even invited to.
the prime minister should follow monte’s example and dine at subway also. it worked for that fat bastard jarrod afterall.
a hundred G’s to be rid of the Liberal Blight, what a bargooon!!! if it were only so simple.
that would be a party we would all enjoy.
so Celines sister Stephanie is going to run, what next some guy that has lived abroad for 30 years??
Im surprised that CBCpravda hasnt been touting the spawn of the dead-ex PET- Justin.they did marvel at his eloquence a year or so ago.
Anyone else here think he looks more like Mike Jagger than Pierre???
let’s just hope the tories learn which fork to use before they host a state dinner. the meatball sub ain’t going to cut it.
“let’s just hope the tories learn which fork to use before they host a state dinner. the meatball sub ain’t going to cut it.”
Heh…in 1994 the newly-elected Lib government hosted a state dinner for very high-ranking politicians from India. It was held in the dining room of the Lester B. Pearson building on Sussex Drive, a very posh facility indeed. Trouble was, the entree was STEAK! Apparently the Libs didn’t realize that those of the Hindu persuasion DON’T EAT BEEF.
Nuff said…
Did anyone stop to consider that the average taxpayer does not have twelve hundred bucks to spend on dinner or lunch? Perhaps some of you do or can write it of as an expense, again courtesy of the taxpayer, but the average Canadian with bills to pay and an ever increasing taxload, cannot afford such an indulgence. Politicians making over a hundred grand a year, don’t need the average bill and mary’s help in dining out and considering how the governments and politicians of the last fifty years, have run this once proud country, nor do they deserve it. Now please excuse me, I have an appointment with a tax specialist, late filing again. Isn’t it nice to know that at the prices politicians pay to stuff their fat corpulant faces, that my tax contribution will be eaten up in a dozen or so meals. Leftists always believe in a free lunch, problem is, it’s usually some poor working smuck who foots the bill.
E-mail: budget2006consult@fin.gc.ca
Department of Finance Canada
– Consulting with Canadians – Active Consultations –
Started April 6, 2006
Online Pre-Budget Consultations for Budget 2006 and Beyond
Note: A consultation is not a poll. Please do not send multiple or duplicate submissions. Views expressed will be made available to the Minister of Finance as part of the budget-formulation process.
Closing date: April 19, 2006
Who may respond:
This consultation is open to anybody interested in participating
Consultation Documents:
* Invitation by the Honourable James M. Flaherty, P.C., MP, Minister of Finance, to Pre-Budget Web Consultations
* Harper Government Launches National Web-Based Pre-Budget Consultations: A First for Canada (News Release (2006-004)
Key Consultations Issues
Without restricting other comments you make, we would appreciate your views on the following questions:
1. What would you like to see in Budget 2006 and future budgets?
2. If you propose further tax cuts – or spending increases – where should the government spend less?
3. How can the government deliver programs more efficiently and effectively?
To place these questions in context, see the Minister�s Consultation Invitation.
To respond, you can use one of the following options:
E-mail: budget2006consult@fin.gc.ca
Regular mail: +
http://www.fin.gc.ca/activty/consult/prebud_e.html
Excellently said, Greg!!
MPs expensing what should be their personal expense for wining and dining their own employees is a new development that should be STOPPED immediately. Meanwhile, McLellan should be taken to court. Even if House rules have been amended to make feeding your own employees at taxpayers’ expense legal, she would have lost the privilege the moment she was defeated.
As for Solberg’s expense account, “How chintzy can you get?” He earns $218,500 a year and can’t even buy his own breakfast? It is to puke.
Greg–absolutely correct re the fat cats stuffing their faces courtesy of the taxpayer.
Below an LTE my daughter wrote after the disgusting statements made in the House yesterday regarding fast food workers–
Dear —
I was forwarded some horrendous statements made by Paul Szabo and Penny Priddy during the Throne Speech debate yesterday concerning child care in Canada. I missed the debate, as I was working at Wendy�s where I am a manager. Here they are:
————————————————-
http://www.parl.gc.ca/39/1/parlbus/chambus/house/debates/004_2006-04-06/HAN004-E.htm#Int-1499812
Mr. Szabo: In terms of providing, or moving toward quality care and early childhood development, does the member think we should be investing money in the current system to bring the standards of personnel within the system up to higher levels than McDonald’s employees so that we could take the first step toward establishing quality child care for Canadian children?
Ms. Penny Priddy: Mr. Speaker, certainly we should expect people who care for our children to be better educated than those who prepare their hamburgers. The money is well spent on education for all kinds of child care providers.
————————————————-
I find it appalling that some MPs would insult the intelligence level of the largest group of workers in the country, those employed in the service sector. Working (for peanuts) in a fast food restaurant is one of the most difficult jobs out there. The forty staff in my store is the hardest working group of people I have ever had the privilege to work with. At least half of those staff has children themselves, and some work two or three jobs to support their families. I have nothing but the utmost respect for them.
To those MPs who would say that you need only a bare minimum of intelligence to work at a fast food place, I wonder if you could handle a day at my store? Nobody who has ever worked an honest day in their lives would say that fast food is an easy job. MPs who think otherwise should get back to reality and get in touch with their constituents, most of whom are working in the service sector. The NDP claims to be the party of the blue-collar worker, but then it turns around and insults the very people it “represents.” The Liberals are so far out of touch that they forget the people who pay for them to line their pockets are the very group that they are belittling. It is truly a shame that the people at the top forget that their success is built upon the backs of the people at the bottom.
By the way, three of the people in my store including myself have bachelor�s degrees. Most of the others are working their way through post-secondary education. There is a high enough intelligence level that we remember it is us who keep the country going, not the fatcats in Parliament. They should be careful about what they say.
A. Trudeau said: �I wasn�t alive then,” said Trudeau… re pere P. Trudeau’s FLQ “crisis” role.
The Islamist terrorists “chaperone” infidels to their death. Beware, A. Trudeau.
A. Trudeau says, “Nothing is neutral”.
If you are not neutral, which side are you on, A. Trudeau?
We demand to know. +
Trudeau says he’ll chaperone terror suspect
Alexandre Trudeau, whose father ordered hundreds of Quebecers locked up under the War Measures Act in 1970, said Friday he would chaperone a suspected terrorist to make his life easier.
…
Alexandre Trudeau questions terror law
Says government hasn’t proved Adil Charkaoui a threat to national security
Apr. 7, 2006. 05:10 PM
NELSON WYATT
CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL � Alexandre Trudeau said Friday he would chaperone a man with alleged links to Al Qaeda to make the suspect�s life easier, prompting questions about his late father�s crackdown on Quebec terrorists.
�I wasn�t alive then,” said Trudeau before declining to comment on any suggested similarities between the security certificate used to arrest Adil Charkaoui and the War Measures Act invoked by then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau in 1970 to lock up hundreds of Quebecers.
…
Asked if he is taking a neutral stand on the issue in his film, Trudeau replied: �Nothing is neutral.� +
http://www.paulding.net/bin/url.cgi/13245.13
“Immigration Minister Monte Solberg claimed $5.49 for a breakfast for two at the Lobby Lounge…”
!! Breakfast for two, for $5.49??
In CANADA??
Or did he have to fly to some third world country to get that price? :))
Seriously, great going Mr. Solberg. At least the CPC government is showing itself to be a little more down to earth in their approach to expenses.
NOT like those free-loading, trough-snorting, entitlement hogs from the Librano Party.
These aren’t just MP’s.
They were a cabinet minister and a deputy PM.
They couldn’t treat their empoyees by paying out of their own pocket!!
What, they’re not paid enough??
If I want to thank my employees for a job well done I pay for it myself.
Politicians should do the same.
BCL….I work in downtown Ottawa. Every Friday a group of us go out to one of the many fabulous restaurants in the Market. We eat very well, including a glass of vino or two, and very rarely does my bill top 40 bucks………and that includes tip. It is an issue, and further proof that the Libranos love to spend….especially if it’s someone elses money. Yep, Solberg will be out of a job in 6 mos,,,,,,,,but there will be a triumphant return when the Canadian public returns the Conservatives back into power with a majority!!
Did they mention how many of the other friends were also members of the Ottawa press gallery????
I am tending to think that the reason they are hammering SH for being fat and unfashionable is because there are no more $100, $200, or more lunches anymore. Any truth in that question?
The party is over and they hate it
Its nice to see the Conservatives living up to the bar.
That said. I do think that the expense accounts of politicians should reflect there endevors, or lack of ones, in the positions they are head of.
I have no problems on them going on junkets that creates buisness. If they fail they pay.
I think where all tired of the 8 month vacations all expense paied, by Canadian voters for Pols & there familys to warmer climes every year.
That really wrankles me. Its why the press & pundints where so outraged at having a winter election. They could have been gadflying about Europe or South America, Australia or south China instead of cold Ottawa. Using entitled liberaqls as an excuse to follow them out of the ice box.
Kate…. I’d like to see the expense accounts of the oil executives who have bought Solberg, Day and the Conservatives and write off their “business” lunches on the public tit. Bet they don’t consider $100.00 a plate at all ridiculous.
I see that Mr Harper want to buy a few planes at about a billion dollars each, instead of the $400 million “dinkeys” the Libs had proposed.
How many $100 dinners could you buy with the difference ??
judging by harper’s growing girth, the discount dining won’t be a top priority for long. i love the righteousness here at the blogging tories. i can’t wait until the boys get a little more comfortable in ottawa.for christ’s sake, since when were the fat cat tories known for living rough? mulroney never met a 5 star restaurant he didn’t like. i would never deny that the grits ripped us off but get over yourselves boys and girls. harper and his govt will be as lean as rump roast once they get their majority.
The way to solve the ‘dining out at our expense’ politicians is to only elect addicted tobacco smokers to office. This simple act would save taxpayers millions.
zuma said: “Kate … the oil executives who have bought Solberg, Day and the Conservatives…”
To zuma: Give us the names, home addresses, business addresses, companies, & etc. of these “oil executives”.
Is zuma a Librano$?
And Paul Martin must wonder why canadians voted to remove this jackass from office if my martin wants to see the reason why then he should look in a mirror
zuma – horses ass. Further to maz2 request, since you know all, please provide the dates.
Zuma wouldnt know an oil executive if one kicked him in the nuts.
Not that they do that sort of thing on any regular basis.
I wish I could be indignant about this – I can’t. Although, I don’t agree with abuse (read line your pockets) … I can see spending appropriate to the position they have had/do have.
I also do not expect a member of the government to pay out his own pocket $1.5K ($5 x 300 days) for coffee.
This all is in contrast of billions blown – I find myself in agreement with BCL … chase down the billions not the thousands.
While I agree with the disgust shown at these politicians who feel they can piss away OUR money with wasteful excess,I do find it funny how people try to twist it into their own
little partisan world.
It is friggin silly to think another party would be any less arrogant in it’s habits after 13 yrs in power.Don’t tell me you’ve ALREADY forgotten the arrogance of the Mulroney government that ultimately led to the extinction of the party.What about the reformers who took the rich TAXPAYER FUNDED pension after swearing not to.
This is a problem with PEOPLE of all leanings who lose their perspective after living off the taxpayer for years.
The liberals’ actions have disgustted me as much as the next guy(maybe more)but that does not mean Cons,NDP or Bloc would be any less in the trough after 13 years.
Ya talk about glass houses…
ural
And why the hell not? MPs are in the top 2% of Canadian income earners? If they had any personal pride they wouldn’t even think of having their meals and snacks paid for.
It’s the small stuff that breeds public contempt for politicians and takes away their credibility when they attack waste and extravagance on the big stuff.
Case in point: When the first Reformers got to Ottawa they made a big thing of declining special perks and privileges – even had a special internal report on it. That all lasted about 10 minutes, and the first one to do any serious troughing was good old Preston Manning. If they hadn’t made a big deal of it in the first place, nobody would have given it much thought, but they were perceived to be hypocrites and it hurt the party badly.
Of course the real payoff was when big-mouth Deborah Grey did a 180 and jumped into the gold-plated pension trough. Hypocrites, liars, thieves and whores – plenty of them in all parties, with an honoured few maintaining their principles.
And I repeat that when Monte Solberg, with a salary of $218,50, submits an expense claim for his breakfast, he is a chippy chisler.
Made a typo. Solberg’s salary is $218,500.
I don’t care who it is, which party they belong to or how much it costs; I don’t want to pay for their food.
Even backbenchers make more money than I likely ever will.
I don’t think PMSH took the pension plan, anyone know for sure?
Zog,
Each to their own. My MP is Lib … I didn’t vote for him … I will never vote Lib (or worse NDP) … period. I don’t care how much he gets paid by the government (by us). I do expect him to get covered for the expenses he pays serving the people in my riding – I don’t expect he will buy me a coffee out of his pocket because I’m in his riding … I think we 66k people here.
I don’t care how much Monty earns … you could go for his job also. Would you be happier if he put in for a $500 breakfast because he wasn’t a “chippy chiseler” at that amount?
For those of you disgruntled Libranos who think that the Conservatives are ‘cheap’ or ‘chippy chiselers’: It is so obvious that you cannot discern proper, ethical expense accounting practices from the piggies-at-the-trough practices of your crooked librano heros, that it is pathetic. Wake up and grow up, you bunch of deposed whining entitlement freaks!
First, purely in terms of expense accounts and use of public funds for hospitality, this is a complete non-issue.
Treasury Board (TB) establishes clear guidelines and rates for what may or may not be charged to the Crown.
This is also a truly non-partisan issue; all governments regardless of political orientation cheerfully “stiff” the tazpayer alike for hospitality so don’t expect the Tories to be any different. Get over it.
Personally, I always found that TB tended to be very strict about who may claim what.
Furthermore, it has been my experience that Canadian hospitality allowances are extremely parsimonious compared to those of many other countries; we’re a bunch of stingy Presbyterians, especially where (heaven forbid!) alcohol is involved. So much so that overseas TB guidelines have had to be established to prevent Canadian diplomatic missions from the embarrassment of serving Cheezies and soft drinks at receptions. About the only other country that is just as cheap as Canada is the US.
Now all that said, I AM curious to know how a minister could get away with wining and dining her own employees and I’d love to see the paperwork (i.e., who signed off on that one).
Rather than bleat about $100-a-plate dinners, it would be more worthwhile to ATIA the hospitality claims. That WOULD be interesting.
Again, in my experience, TB just makes this sort of thing near impossible.
Entertain private business and foreign government/diplomatic representatives, fine. But generally it’s a no-no to freely extend hospitality to your own staff.
Re ural’s observation (12:17 a.m.) that he doesn’t expect a member of the government to pay out of his/her own pocket for coffee to the tune of $1500/year: I sure as H___ do.
Multiply the number of MPs by $1500 and that’s a whopping amount of taxpayers’ hard earned cash for, essentially, a luxury. No one NEEDS to drink coffee: and it’s not getting any cheaper. MPs should drink their coffee at home and have a good coffee maker at the office. Put it in a thermos that pours and you’ll have all the coffee you’ll need for the rest of the day.
OR let the taxpayer pay for ONE $2.00 coffee (my Timmy Horton’s costs only $1.40)–MAX.
To the further comment by ural that we poor, benighted taxpayers should “chase down the billions not the thousands” has he never heard of the saying that if you can’t be trusted in small things, neither can you be trusted in big things: like governing a country?
ural doens’nt seem to get it: It’s the principle of the thing. If it’s wrong to bilk the public out of billions then it’s equally wrong to bilk them out of millions, thousands, or hundreds. We need to get our priorities straight here–which is what the CPC seems to be doing.
Good on ya’ Monty and Stock. Show those Librano$ and all their fans how things should be done!!
Every office I have ever worked in we had either a coffee fund we all paid into or we had to go across the street to the coffee shop and BUY OUR OWN. Either way the money for the coffee I drank came out of my pocket. Why would anyone think that it’s OK for one of our employees to bill us for their consumption. i.e.anyone in the government.
I’m not to sure what the new numbers are but at one time recently we were only allowed to submit claimes of 45.00 for food to a total of 95.00 a day which included accommadation anything above is considered a taxable benefit. Why is this not the same for them.
Hey Joe Canuck, what make you think that I’m a bloody Liberal? Conservative to the bone actually, and aa Alliance member before that . Your inference that only a Librano would be concerned by a Conservative cabinet minister with his hat out for spare change is an embarrasment to Conservatives. Is it too much to expect MPs to show at least a trace of class?
As mentioned, hardly a swanky place. Interesting note on Revenue canada disclosures – 12 employees, same place for $531. OK it was 2004 and there is inflation and all that – but it must have been one large tip!.
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/agency/expenses/ray/2004/0115h1-e.html
ahhh, sorry to break this to you, BUT ALL POITICIANS OF ALL STRIPES DO THIS, or are you forgetting Brian Mulroney? With Chubbs McHarpers’ (and typical Alliance)integrity, the neocons will be doing the same thing if not already. Look for the ultra religious to be 1st in line for hand-outs. Chubbs McHarper has made many promises that will have to be repaid.
And now PAUL MARTIN is wondering why his liberal party were put out of office by the voters. I heard where a father of a murder victim called him a JACKASS for going around calling for more gun control laws
“Hey Joe Canuck, what make you think that I’m a bloody Liberal?”
Well, excuse me Zog. My mistake. But you sure sounded like one of those high-flying-at-taxpayer-expense libranaos. Just what is ‘cheap’ about someone in government submitting a legitimate expense claim? So what if it is only for a few bucks? And so what if the claim comes from a cabinet minister? Where would you draw the line as to who in government should be allowed valid expense claims, and who should not? Perhaps you would be happier if the minister had claimed some outrageous amount just so he wouldn’t look so ‘cheap’? You know, sort of like the libranos did all along during their dozen years of soaking the public??
Zog: I’m with Joe Canuck (4:18 a.m., April 10): add up all the $5.49s and why should Monte Solberg be paying for breakfast out of his own pocket? Presumably he has family expenses that need to be covered and being a Cabinet Minister, he often CAN’T be home for meals. Get it?
MPs have LEGITIMATE expenses and it seems like maybe the members of the CPC understand how to properly use their expense accounts. The Libranos were far too extravagant, which is particularly galling to those of us living on modest incomes but who are TAXED TO THE MAX. I don’t mind my taxes going to fixing highways and paying for legitimate health care, but for $1000 dinners for their farewell dinners? I DON’T THINK SO!
As I pointed out in a previous post, there is a difference between what Landslide Annie did (and for which I tink that prosecution should be in order) and MPs who don’t break any specific rules but who fell entitled to their entitlements of full time taxpayer support, leaving them free to hoard their salaries.
I would remind you that, until 5 years ago, MPs drew an annual tax free expense allowance of $30,000 to compensate for the great hardship of living away from home. This was cancelled and, as a quid pro quo, their salaries were nearly doubled. This was supposed to make it unnecessary for them to submit cheat sheets. And, oh yeah, they still receive an annual housing allowance which was, the last time I looked, $12,000.
Maybe we should reduce their salaries to something similar to what they could earn in the real world and give the poor darlings no-limit Visa cards.
We don’t have heriditary royalty (except for the ones in England who we aren’t taxed to support), but over the last 30 years or so, we have created our own little royalty in Ottawa. As long as we’re paying their incidental expenses and catering to their every need, perhaps we should hire a personal servant for each one so that, like Prince Charles, they could have their toothpaste squeezed for them.
Time for a little Treasury Board ass kicking to “educate” any greedy little buggers who are routinely milking the system.