Saskatchewan’s Opposition wants to know why a provincial cabinet minister thought it was a good use of public money to sightsee around Paris in a chauffeur-driven van when he was supposed to be at a conference.
The NDP released invoices filed by Dustin Duncan, the minister in charge of the province’s natural gas utility, relating to a trip last year to Paris.
The Opposition says the receipts indicate Duncan billed taxpayers for a chauffeur van to take him to Napoleon’s Tomb and the Arc de Triomphe when he was supposed to be touring pavilions at the World Nuclear Expo.
NDP critic Aleana Young says the expense shows the governing Saskatchewan Party is out of touch.
The invoices indicate Duncan billed about $3,500 for the chauffeur van over five days, at a cost of $700 per day.
Duncan has been at the centre of a conflict between Ottawa over Saskatchewan not remitting the carbon levy.
Duncan claimed there was a break in his schedule and at his own expense toured the museum.
“It was a busy tour, a busy couple of days in Paris with a significant number of meetings, but I did have a break in my schedule and I did go to the museum,” Duncan said.
He said he didn’t miss any meetings for this tour.
Duncan said the Sask. Party tries to mitigate spending when members travel, pointing to things like him flying economy and having a hotel near the airport during the Paris trip.
He said there were possible disruptions with Paris traffic and that was part of the deciding factor why they took the chauffeur-driven van.
“If you Google ‘Paris traffic’ there’s often things in the news about disruptions in public transportation.”
— With files from Global News’ Brody Langager