Taxpayers charged thousands for university and college presidents’ travel

WATCH: Freedom of information requests by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation reveal 25 B.C. University and College presidents spent copious amounts of money on questionable expenses over the past two years. Jeremy Hunka reports.

VANCOUVER – B.C. university and college presidents charged taxpayers more than one million dollars in airfare and almost $500,000 in hotel rooms from 2012 to 2014, a report has found.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) collected 25 Freedom of Information requests and released a ‘Screwed U Dean’s List of Waste‘ showing the expenses for fiscal years 2012-13 and 2013-14.

“The amount of money spent by these presidents with little oversight is staggering,” said CTF B.C. Director Jordan Bateman in a release. “The next time you hear a post-secondary institution cry poor, tell them to look at their expenses first.”

Former University of B.C. president Stephen Toope almost spent $250,000 on airfare, according to the CTF (partial list):

• Hong Kong/Berlin/Paris ($21,987.35)
• London/Hong Kong/Chongqing ($17,960.93)
• Ottawa/Delhi ($14,926.77)
• London/Lund ($14,001.44)
• Seoul/Montreal/New York ($13,552.82)
• Toronto/Brazil/Ottawa ($12,079.94)
• Toronto/Ottawa/Edinburgh/London ($11,785.27)
• Montreal/Ottawa/Toronto/India ($10,572.16)
• Toronto/Ottawa/London/Beijing ($9,407.54)
• Quebec City/China/Shanghai/Hong Kong ($9,216.70)
• San Francisco/Toronto ($6,129.30)
• Switzerland ($5,846.52)
• Ottawa/Calgary ($5,758.72 and $4,974.40)
• Los Angeles/Ottawa/Montreal ($4,485.86)
• Ottawa/Toronto ($4,392.12 and $3,792.13)
• Kelowna/Banff/Ottawa/Montreal ($3,980.84)
• Toronto/New York ($3,841.03)
• Toronto ($3,650.61, $3,638.29, $3,205.78, $2,157.65 and $2,157.65)
• Ottawa ($6,201.78, $6,141.30, $3,127.74 and $2,039.10)
• Montreal ($3,574.85)
• San Francisco ($2,027.01 and $1,265.89).

“That’s a U2 rock and roll tour, not a schedule that should be paid by taxpayers,” said Bateman. When he was president Toope did sit on a number of boards, which required travel.

The CTF also put together the following list showing some of the charges incurred by other presidents:

• BCIT president spent $3,341.40 for 12 tickets to Hillary Clinton speech.
• Camosun president charged Air Canada airfares of $2,944.90, $2,899.36, and $2,044.82 with no destinations listed on expense reports.
• Capilano president charged $594.80 for TicketsTonight.ca in November 2013. No event description was given.
• College of the Rockies presidents charged more than $4,000 for airfare three times and more than $2,000 for hotels twice – with no destinations listed on expense form.
• Douglas president made five trips to China (airfares of $6,695.26, $4,365.61, $4,297.91, $4,222.31 and $3,893.74), plus a trip to India (airfare $7,448.45).
• Kwantlen presidents took trips to China (airfare $7,075.71) and Brazil (airfare $6,558.66 – plus a “change fee” of $1,762.84).
• North Island president charged $20,000 in relocation expenses in 2013.
• Northern Lights president charged $2,000+ in hotel expenses three times, but the expense reports lack any detail on what those were for.
• Northwest president billed for airfares of $5,504.46, $3,885.71, $2,965.53, $2,925.40, $2,227.46 and $2,189.04 with no details on destinations.
• Okanagan president charged $6,516 for airfare in June 2013 with no destination explanation listed.
• Royal Roads president took six trips to China (airfares of $9,197.86, $5,242.37, $5,025.64, $4,708.93, $4,635.28 and $4,415.90); and trips to Brazil (airfare $8,142.56), Taiwan (airfare $5,231.96) and Bahrain (airfare $6,533.20).
• Simon Fraser University president flew to Ottawa (airfares of $2,860.41, $2,468.96, $2,436.81 and $2,400.27), Seattle (airfare $998.71), India (airfare $7,541.75), Chile (airfare $7,437.79), Britain (airfare $4,816.09), Brussels (airfare $5,159.61), China (airfare $5,758.15), Montreal (airfare $2,010.35), Europe (airfare $5,653.91), and Israel (airfare $5,344.93).
• Thompson Rivers president spent $11,898.89 on airfare to Austria, $9,342.85 on airfare to China, and thousands in airfares from Kamloops to Vancouver.
• University of Northern B.C. president spent $2,181.02 to fly to Vancouver, $9,854.02 to fly to Russia, and $5,342.61 to fly to Iceland and Boston. He also charged expenses, including airfare, for his wife on nine separate trips.
• In June 2012, University of Northern B.C. president charged $26,542.65 for airfare for he and his wife to Greenland and Hong Kong. The total trip cost $31,536.56.
• University of Victoria president spent $21,825.80 on a trip to China, and $14,379.51 on a trip to India. Spouse accompanied the president on both trips.
• University of Victoria president spent $9,686.61 to attend to a Harvard seminar in July 2013.
• Vancouver Island University president charged $9,458.80 in 15 transactions at the Westwood Tennis Club, and several large charges for airfare and luxury hotels, but expense reports lack details on what they were for.
• Vancouver Island University president took $1,042.34 in cash advances – something unreported by any other president.

The CTF is also calling on Minister of Advanced Education Amrik Virk to order post-secondary presidents and executives to post full, detailed expenses reports every quarter.

In a statement, Virk, said “reporting expenses is voluntary. We expect public post-secondary institutions to spend taxpayer dollars wisely. We are always looking at ways to be even more accountable and transparent.”