Metro Vancouver taxpayers paid nearly $5,500 so Surrey councillor and MLA-elect Marvin Hunt could “stretch out and actually sleep” on his executive business class flight to Italy in 2011.
According to Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Hunt – who was elected as a B.C. Liberal MLA for Surrey-Panorama Ridge in last month’s election – charged taxpayers $5,467.32 in airfare and $3,960 in “meeting fees” for a 2011 trip to Florence, Italy.
The CTF is examining Hunt’s “questionable expenses,” according to a release on the organization’s website, along with a number of other government employees.
According to Hunt, the trip was to discuss a “zero-waste challenge” to get manufacturers in local municipalities to reduce their packaging.
“We’re usually going straight into meetings, like immediately after we land type of thing,” Hunt said. “In business class you have the ability to stretch out and actually sleep on the plane so you’re getting there refreshed.”
Hunt says business class allows him to “be alert and responsive” for morning meetings and also avoids piling up hotel fees for overnight stays.
According to Hunt, councillors are “allowed to go up in business class” if they’re taking a more than 9 hour overnight flight.
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