Update: Pricey meal prompts call for more transparency at SAIT

CALGARY- A dean at SAIT is coming under fire, after billing an expensive steak dinner to taxpayers and students.

A Freedom of Information request by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation uncovered that Allen Billy ran up a $1,079 bill at The Ranche, while wining and dining a group that included academic chairs and their spouses.

The final tally included $263 for steaks and $280 for five bottles of wine.

The Alberta director of the CTF says the timing is ironic.

“When the Canadian Taxpayers Federation released our expense investigation of Doug Black, the University of Calgary’s chairman several months ago, the dean here at SAIT sent around an e-mail to everyone saying they should be very careful about their expenses,” says Derek Fildebrandt.

The discovery comes just weeks after post-secondary institutions were told by the Alberta government that they need to cut back to deal with a budget shortfall.

SAIT spokesperson Melanie Simmons says the meal was a reward from the dean to his leadership team and and falls within the organization’s expense policies. She also pointed out the meal took place in June 2012.

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“SAIT has a long-standing record of being a fiscally responsible organization,” says Simmons. “We continue to look at ways to manage our spending. This was a special recognition, our employees work very hard, part of that is recognition. This was eight people at a dinner.”

But Hildebrant says the bill sends a bad message and expenses should be publicly posted online if the organization benefits from taxpayer dollars.

“Students are paying good money in tuition at SAIT. Taxpayers who are paying good money to keep this important institution open are probably scratching their heads wondering why the post-secondary education institutions are crying poverty, saying they don’t have enough money, yet executives are giving themselves very significant pay raises and living a lifestyle that you could describe as pretty far from spartan.”

SAIT executives recently got a hefty raise, with three vice-presidents seeing their salaries jump 26 per cent, to $230,000 per year plus a $58,000 bonus.

Some students at the school agreed senior managers deserved to rewarded for good work while others felt the bill seemed excessive given the current fiscal climate.