Canada PoliticsMP questioned about taxpayer-funded trip to New York
Some have argued that if politicians were expected to report all their expenses online, it would become 'silly season' for the media nitpicking at every nickle disbursed.
Maybe we're getting a little taste of that in this story about Conservative MP Patrick Brown and his recent trip to New York.
On his website, Brown — the Member for Barrie, Ontario — posted this expense for $1416.06.
The descriptor claims that Brown went to New York to "meet with United Nations' officials" but as pointed out by several media outlets, the dates correspond with Brown's participation in the NY Marathon to raise money for juvenile diabetes.
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Postmedia News questioned the expense.
Brown travelled from Barrie to the Big Apple on Saturday, Nov. 2, ran the marathon on Sunday and flew back to Ottawa Monday morning after visiting the United Nations.
Brown was not available for an interview on Monday, but in an email, Shawn Bubel, a staffer, said that the “original purpose of visiting New York was a planned visit to United Nations set up by Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
But Brown announced that he would be attending the 2012 New York City Marathon to raise money for juvenile diabetes in July 2012, but it was cancelled because of Hurricane Sandy.
We've all heard stories about politicians — and even people in the corporate world — scheduling a business meeting so that their employer would pay for a personal trip.
In this case, Brown's spokesperson is denying that happened and said that the UN visit was actually set up by Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
But should we, as taxpayers be concerned, about that sort of thing?
Somewhat surprisingly, a taxpayer watchdog — who is usually pretty hard on MPs and senators who waste government money — doesn't think it's worth pursuing.
"If the media wrote a story every time a politician added a partisan political event or a personal day to an official trip, the stack of newsprint would be higher than the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill," Gregory Thomas of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation told Yahoo Canada News.
"If Canadians want to tighten the rules so politicians can't take a personal day when they're travelling, or attend a partisan political party event when they're travelling on official business, that's a discussion worth having, but these events number in the thousands in the life of a Parliament, and politicians from every political party are involved in it.
"In Brown's case, if he had gone down on the Sunday night, stayed in the hotel, done his day at the UN and flown back to Ottawa, the cost would have been identical. He didn't miss any House time. He didn't miss any UN meetings. He raised a bunch of money for charity on his own time."
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What do you think?
Were the media right to jump on this expense? Or, is it much ado about nothing?
Let your know your thoughts in the comment section below.
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