Surrey-White Rock-Cloverdale MP Russ Hiebert spent the most of all B.C. MPs, coming in at $637,093, which places him among the top spenders in the country for the fiscal year ending April 30, 2009.
Members of Parliament and the auditor general are wrestling over whether Sheila Fraser will be able to audit MP expenses. Fraser wants to judge value for money, which means she would want more information than is currently offered by the annual report of the House of Commons’ secretive board of internal economy.
For those looking to see what information is actually available, Canwest News Service offers this snapshot.
The highest expenses in B.C. were fiiled by:
1. Surrey-White Rock-Cloverdale MP Russ Hiebert (CPC) $637,093
2. Keena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen (NDP) $580,579
3. Nanaimo-Alberni James Lunney (CPC) $564,728
4. Kootney-Columbia MP Jim Abbott (CPC) $558,978
5. Prince George-Peace River MP Jay Hill (CPC) $549,857.
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Expenses for members of Parliament
Member’s office budget (MOB)
Every MP is allowed to spend $280,500 per year to maintain and operate a Parliament Hill office and a constituency office or offices. MPs representing ridings that are larger than 500 square kilometres may spend up to an additional $52,120 per year. MPs representing densely populated ridings may spend up to an extra $23,790 per year.
This money is used to pay for:
– salaries and wages for staff in their Parliament Hill and constituency offices.
– extra BlackBerrys and telephone lines beyond those supplied by the House of Commons.
– hospitality and gifts not to exceed three per cent of the MOB.
– travel within the riding.
– advertising within the riding, including announcements and information related to the discharge of their duties as well as letters of greeting or congratulatory messages to constituents. Advertising cannot exceed 10 per cent of the MOB.
– leasing costs for a constituency office.
(The MP’s salary is not included in the MOB.)
Goods and services charged to MPs by the House of Commons
The House of Commons has a ‘central budget’ for other items which MPs then can ‘buy’ or submit receipts to support their acquisition. They include:
– 64 return trips a year for each MP to travel between Ottawa and their constituency.
– reimbursement for accommodation, meals and incidental expenses while travelling back and forth to Ottawa, to a maximum per diem rate set by the board of internal economy. These charges cannot exceed $25,092 a year.
– four telephone lines, one fax line and one toll-free number for the primary constituency office and a maximum of four wireless devices or BlackBerrys.
– the printing of "Ten Percenters", the newsletters MPs are allowed to send to those who live outside their riding.
– up to four "Householders" a year. These are newsletters sent to every home in the riding.
– office supplies for both Hill and constituency offices
– constituency and Parliament Hill office furniture, computers and other office equipment.
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Regional Lists
Here are the top five overall spenders for each province.
ALBERTA
1. Lee Richardson (CPC) $535,644
2. Laurie Hawn (CPC) $519,427
3. Rick Casson (CPC) $514,038
4. Chris Warkentin (CPC) $505,893
5. Jim Prentice (CPC) $496,725
BRITISH COLUMBIA
1. Russ Hiebert (CPC) $637,093
2. Nathan Cullen (NDP) $580,579
3. James Lunney (CPC) $564,728
4. Jim Abbott (CPC) $558,978
5. Jay Hill (CPC) $549,857
MANITOBA
1. Steven Fletcher (CPC) $781,631
2. Brian Storseth (CPC) $507,658
3. Joy Smith (CPC) $502,605
4. James Bezan (CPC) $499,682
5. Vic Toews (CPC) $477,237
NEW BRUNSWICK
1. Dominic LeBlanc (LPC) $479,857
2. Brian Murphy (LPC) $478,070
3. Rob Moore (CPC) $429,209
4. Greg Thompson (CPC) $397,841
5. Mike Allen (CPC) $386,772
NEWFOUNDLAND and LABRADOR
1. Todd Russell (LPC) $511,460
2. Scott Simms (LPC) $504,208
3. Gerry Byrne (LPC) $463,663
NOVA SCOTIA
1. Rodger Cuzner (LPC) $509,875
2. Scott Brison (LPC) $473,101
3. Gerald Keddy (CPC) $466,894
4. Michael Savage (LPC) $437,090
5. Mark Eyking (LPC) $433,644
ONTARIO
1. Jack Layton (NDP) $555,983
2. Helena Guergis (IND) $532,329
3. Jeff Watson (CPC) $503,936
4. Patrick Brown (CPC) $499,766
5. Charlie Angus (NDP) $495,235
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
1. Wayne Easter (LPC) $429,129
2. Lawrence MacAulay (LPC) $401,735
3. Shawn Murphy (LPC) $398,737
QUEBEC
1. Yvon Levesque (BQ) $529,932
2. Jean-Pierre Blackburn (CPC) $452,061
3. Raynald Blais (BQ) $448,453
4. Gilles Duceppe (BQ) $446,967
5. Gerard Asselin (BQ) $442,964
SASKATCHEWAN
1. Rob Clarke (CPC) $541,704
2. Maurice Vellacott (CPC) $529,219
3. Lynne Yelich (CPC) $518,180
4. Bradley Trost (CPC) $494,890
5. Garry Breitkreuz (CPC) $477,785
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Who Spent What?
These figures are for the fiscal year ending April 30, 2009, the latest year for which figures are available. As there was a general election in the middle of that fiscal year, the following lists and calculations only apply to the 239 MPs who were in Parliament before and after the last general election.
Averages
– Average members office budget: $289,964
– Average goods and services provided by the House of Commons: $142,763
– Average grand total: $432,728
– Average spent on travel within ridings: $11,413
– Average spent on return trips between Ottawa and ridings: $87,415
– Average spent on advertising: $15,015
Biggest Office Budgets
1. Yvon Levesque — Que. (BQ) $356,086
2. Dennis Bevington — N.W.T. (NDP) $352,694
3. Charlie Angus — Ont. (NDP) $347,726
4. Nathan Cullen — B.C. (NDP) $345,020
5. Marc Lemay — Que. (BQ) $343,445
6. Jay Hill — B.C. (CPC) $332,733
7. Gerard Asselin — Que. (BQ) $329,513
8. James Lunney — B.C. (CPC) $321,762
9. Meili Faille — Que. (BQ) $320,679
10. Richard Harris — B.C. (CPC) $320,414
Biggest Overall Spenders
(Member’s office budgets plus goods and services provided by the House of Commons)
1. Steven Fletcher — Man. (CPC) $781,631 (*see note below)
2. Russ Hiebert — B.C. (CPC) $637,093
3. Dennis Bevington — N.W.T. (NDP) $586,014
4. Nathan Cullen — B.C. (NDP) $580,579
5. James Lunney — B.C. (CPC) $564,728
6. Jim Abbott — B.C. (CPC) $558,978
7. Jack Layton — Ont. (NDP) $555,983
8. Jay Hill — B.C. (CPC) $549,857
9. Richard Harris — B.C. (CPC) $545,343
10. Rob Clarke — Sask. (CPC) $541,704
* Fletcher is a quadriplegic and requires special assistants, extra travel costs, and specialized equipment to discharge his MPs duties. These added about $308,000 extra in expenses that other MPs do not incur.
Lowest office budgets
1. Stephen Harper — Alta. (CPC) $189,774
2. Colin Mayes — B.C. (CPC) $219,760
3. David Anderson — Sask. (CPC) $223,310
4. John Baird — Ottawa West-Nepean (CPC) $227,675
5. Derek Lee — Ont. (LPC) $234,837
6. Massimo Pacetti — Que. (LPC) $236,837
7. Ed Fast — B.C. (CPC) $242,426
8. Andre Arthur — Que. (IND) $244,416
9. Mike Lake — Alta. (CPC) $245,388
10. Deepak Obhrai — Alta. (CPC) $248,254
Lowest Overall Spenders
(Members office budgets plus goods and services provided by the House of Commons.)
1. Stephen Harper — Alta. (CPC) $245,509
2. Andre Arthur — Que. (IND) $286,986
3. John Baird — Ottawa West-Nepean (CPC) $300,283
4. Massimo Pacetti — Que. (LPC) $314,587
5. Derek Lee — Ont. (LPC) $316,754
6. David McGuinty — Ottawa South (LPC) $323,882
7. Francine Lalonde — Que. (BQ) $325,649
8. Peter Milliken — Ont. (LPC) $327,377
9. Bernard Patry — Que. (LPC) $334,861
10. Yasmin Ratansi — Ont. (LPC) $336,815
List confined to those MPs from the last Parliament and this Parliament.
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