The Conservatives continued to blast the Liberals on Wednesday over an estimated $1.1 million in relocation costs for staffers that Canadian taxpayers will pick up the tab for.
Documents tabled in the House of Commons yesterday revealed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office alone spent roughly $220,000 moving his staff to Ottawa, with one staffer billing the taxpayer $126,669.56 in relocation costs.
Former cabinet minister Jason Kenney was quick to pounce on the issue saying he didn’t know how it was possible to spend that kind of money.
“I think the most I ever approved for a staff member who came to Ottawa, and that was from Washington, D.C., was about $5,000,” Kenney told reporters on Parliament Hill. “I don’t know how that is even possible. What did you do, pick up the whole house and move it to Ottawa? How do you spend six figures on a move?”
Other pricey moves include a Global Affairs employee who expensed nearly $120,000 in costs, a staff member of Environment and Climate Change who expensed nearly $76,000, and a staffer for the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Economic Development who billed roughly $114,000.
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The documents did not include the individual staffers names, nor the locations from which they moved.
Government guidelines allow for a wide range of “entitlements” to be reimbursed, including flights for family members to house hunt costs to real estate fees or shipping of vehicles.
“The government has had a relocation policy for public servants and ministerial staff since the 1970s, and this specific policy has been in place since the Conservative government in Jan 2011,” Kate Purchase, the prime minister’s director of communications, said in a statement to Global News Wednesday evening.
“Some people across government, and in the PMO, moved from rental to rental, others sold their homes and moved their families to Ottawa. In the case of the two larger numbers for the PMO, the vast majority of the costs had to do with real estate and legal fees. There were much smaller moving logistic fees associated as well
.
Conservative MP Blaines Calkins questioned Trudeau on the issue again during Question Period Wednesday.
“There are no ifs ands or buts about these expenses. They are wrong,” Calkins said.
Government House Leader Bardish Chagger said Liberals were following the rules and that many staffers had moved across Canada with their families to serve in Ottawa.
“Some employees received help in relocating,” Chagger said. “The current rules for relocation have been in place since 2008 and have applied to every minister’s office since.”
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Shortly after making his first address to the United Nations General Assembly, Trudeau told reporters the Liberals have followed all the rules when it came to relocation assistance.
“We did not create those rules; we are simply following them,” Trudeau said.
Treasury Board President Scott Brison appears open to reviewing the controversial relocation policy.
“We always do our upmost, on an ongoing basis, to review all policies to ensure that we deliver best value for the taxpayers,” Brison told Global News.
Global News was not able to determine how much taxpayers were billed in moving costs associated with former prime minister Stephen Harper’s government.
Conservative MP Tony Clement said he couldn’t “recall” similar moving expenses
“I can’t recall having moving expenses like that,” said Clement, who is currently running for leader of the Conservative Party. “It’s kind of shocking these types of expenses are being expensed”
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