Province now posting travel expenses online

REGINA – The Government of Saskatchewan has posted ministerial travel expenses for the first six months of the 2014-15 fiscal year online.

The web posting fulfills a commitment Brad Wall made earlier this year that out-of-province travel reports will be posted every six months.

The travel expense reports provide information about the purpose of each trip, meetings attended, the name of each person travelling with the minister, and the expenses that were incurred by each person.

Among the costs of doing business were hotel rooms at this summer’s meeting of Canadian premiers in Charlottetown worth more than $350 per night.

“When you’re talking about those conferences, typically they’re not discounting the rooms because the hotels are full,” Wall said.

That was one of the priciest trips over the last six months, totaling $20,576 for for Wall and six others.

Economy minister Bill Boyd’s visit to China and Singapore with three others to promote Saskatchewan totaled $44,302.

Former education minister Russ Marchuk and three others spent $7,718 attending the Council of Ministers of Education in Charlottetown.

“We’re here today because this government got caught out in terms of some questionable expenses,” said Warren McCall, Regina-Elphinstone Centre NDP MLA.

In April, finance minister Ken Krawetz and then-social services minister June Draude had to answer for expenses including a car service in London that cost $7,000. The government official who booked the limos paid it back and was demoted.

Some of the large bills for out-of-province travel may jump off the page, but analysts say at many meetings, politicians get more bang for their buck by being there in person.

“It’s those informal things they do together over the course of two or three days that build relationships, build understanding,” said Tom McIntosh, a political scientist at the University of Regina.

“They can talk about issues offline.”

Wall believes the new reporting system will force the government to think twice before spending on travel.

“We’re not going to apologize for continuing to be engaged internationally with different bodies,” he said. “Although you’ll see us attend more by phone than most other provinces would.”

Wall’s office revealed the premier quietly repaid some travel bills over the last few years.

In a trip to London in 2011, the government said Wall paid back about $270 to cover per diems improperly claimed by a staff member and a car service that wasn’t used enough.