Trip to Australia and New Zealand that cost taxpayers $10,000

[Moonlight Graham]

This story will make any taxpayer go mad with fury:

The head of a federal agency submitted a 115-page annotated photo album as her justification for a trip to Australia and New Zealand that cost taxpayers $10,000.

The document, which is now circulating inside government and was obtained by The Globe and Mail, was put together after the Old Port of Montreal Corporation agreed to pay for a portion of president Claude Benoit’s holiday-season Oceanic getaway in 2008 and 2009.

...

Ms. Benoit states in her seven-part report that she worked 10 days during her nearly month-long trip. She charged a proportional part of her total expenses to taxpayers as she visited tourist attractions in major cities and traveled on a cruise ship in New Zealand.

At her various taxpayer-funded stops, Ms. Benoit visited museums, went on heritage walks, looked at maritime terminal and cruise reception areas, and explored wharfs and harbours. In Melbourne, she went to a Ferris wheel, given Montreal was looking into the possibility of getting one at the time.

Despite the fact the public was picking up the tab, Ms. Benoit did not take the time to meet with the heads of the various institutions she visited, relying on her camera and her own observations. “I did not meet anyone at the sites,” Ms. Benoit told the ethics committee of the House on May 10. “I took pictures.”

She has earned the scorn of MPs from all parties for mixing working days with days off. “I think you're well paid,” Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro told Ms. Benoit. “What I'd say to you is in the future, pay for your own vacations.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/did-taxpayers-get-good-value-for-10000-report-from-down-under/article2445828/

$10,000 for 10 days of taking pictures at scenic/touristy sites during an Xmas holiday winter getaway, and to produce a 115-page annotated photo album (professional scrapbooking?). Arrrgg!!

Maybe she should be fired, and ordered to pay back some or all of the nonsense. We can give her the photos back in payment.

Edited May 29, 2012 by Moonlight Graham

[cybercoma]

Sounds like someone the Conservatives will appoint to the Senate.

[Michael Hardner]

$10,000 doesn't warrant a national story.

[Moonlight Graham]

$10,000 doesn't warrant a national story.

heh, no not really, but i think it's the way in which it was wasted. Also, slow news week/month lol.

[GostHacked]

I love how the media focuses on a small $10,000 issue when the government pisses away millions on a daily basis.

[Michael Hardner]

I'm thinking we might want to have one permanent thread called 'taxpayer outrage anecdotes' or somesuch, that we could keep going through many administrations, levels of government, as the decades roll on and on.

[Michael Hardner]

I love how the media focuses on a small $10,000 issue when the government pisses away millions on a daily basis.

The anecdote I'm thinking of is the town council being asked to consider a small cash request for a square dance, and a huge one for a nuclear reactor. Which request do you think will be picked apart and examined closely ?

[GostHacked]

The anecdote I'm thinking of is the town council being asked to consider a small cash request for a square dance, and a huge one for a nuclear reactor. Which request do you think will be picked apart and examined closely ?

It happens quite often. The petty stuff is debated and investigated to death, while the big fish are given a pass. It's always a distraction for something bigger. The people also go for that kind of thing too. This thread being an example of that. it's baffling really.

[Michael Hardner]

it's baffling really.

It sure is. We have millions, billions spent on things without much comment from the so-called public. Healthcare stats, economics ... all of these things we rely on "the press" to notify us about, however they are more and more challenged, and rely on advocates to provide them research.

The government should be setting up ways for the people to monitor these things.

[GostHacked]

It sure is. We have millions, billions spent on things without much comment from the so-called public. Healthcare stats, economics ... all of these things we rely on "the press" to notify us about, however they are more and more challenged, and rely on advocates to provide them research.

The government should be setting up ways for the people to monitor these things.

That's all included in the 'open government' initiative I guess right?? !!! We know that our politicians want to be accountable for their actions, we know they want to properly inform the Canadian population.

[fellowtraveller]

I was in NZ last winter for three weeks, and have been to both Australia and NZ on previous trips.

$10K sounds like a modest amount, neither country is inexpensive for anything related to the things tourists buy.

[Michael Hardner]

That's all included in the 'open government' initiative I guess right?? !!! We know that our politicians want to be accountable for their actions, we know they want to properly inform the Canadian population.

Of course !

The first challenge is to find a group of Canadians who have read the budget. It's available, so that might be the first test of whether you should be included in 'open government' initiatives.

[Topaz]

Couldn't she have contacted their tourism department and tell them she needed, picture of whatever and why and then paid them a lot less then going herself? Tech. HAS come a long way.

[wyly]

$10,000 doesn't warrant a national story.

bev oda's limo ride and $18 oranje juice warranted a national story...

[wyly]

I love how the media focuses on a small $10,000 issue when the government pisses away millions on a daily basis.

relative scale, countries/governments squander billions individuals squander 10s of thousands...money wasted frivolously is your money wasted...

[fellowtraveller]

$18 oranje juice warranted a national story

zzzzzzzzz..... ever been to London? No, I guess not or $18 orange juice would not be a surprise in any way.

A modest lunch for two without drinks at a middling cafe can easily run $100 for two.

[wyly]

zzzzzzzzz..... ever been to London? No, I guess not or $18 orange juice would not be a surprise in any way.

A modest lunch for two without drinks at a middling cafe can easily run $100 for two.

as a Eu citizen i've been to europe many times london, amsterdam, brussels, paris... paris is just as expensive when last there I had lunch for 3 paid 20 euros and stayed in a middling 3 star hotel that gave free all you can eat breakfasts, sidewalk cafes offer great meals at reasonable prices...ridiculous prices are for the stupid, lazy, pampered and entitled...

[Michael Hardner]

bev oda's limo ride and $18 oranje juice warranted a national story...

I don't think so. If government operating expenses go down over time, then it's the government's job to root out these anomalies and pay for them somehow.

[wyly]

I don't think so. If government operating expenses go down over time, then it's the government's job to root out these anomalies and pay for them somehow.

if the public is kept in the dark as to waste then there is no compulsion to control it...

I'd suggest giving a reasonable daily budget according to location and needs and let them figure out how to live within it, if they want to upgrade they can pay for it out of their own pocket...if you give people carte blanche without public oversight it's guaranteed someone will abuse it...

[Michael Hardner]

if the public is kept in the dark as to waste then there is no compulsion to control it...

Well, they're not completely in the dark today, so that's unlikely to get worse, i.e. darker.

I'd suggest giving a reasonable daily budget according to location and needs and let them figure out how to live within it, if they want to upgrade they can pay for it out of their own pocket...if you give people carte blanche without public oversight it's guaranteed someone will abuse it...

I'm ... uh ... pretty sure that's how it works, yup....

[fellowtraveller]

as a Eu citizen i've been to europe many times london, amsterdam, brussels, paris... paris is just as expensive when last there I had lunch for 3 paid 20 euros and stayed in a middling 3 star hotel that gave free all you can eat breakfasts, sidewalk cafes offer great meals at reasonable prices...ridiculous prices are for the stupid, lazy, pampered and entitled...

ah yes, the 'longest dick' contests engaged in by ze world traveller, who can obtain free orange juice anywhere.....

London is one of the most expensive cities in the world to visit, they charge the same prices for the stupid and the informed.

[wyly]

I'm ... uh ... pretty sure that's how it works, yup....

so why do you have an issue with the OP and $10K being an unworthy issue?, Oda's bill was less and was made a national issue, officials abusing their perks need to be exposed, when seasonal EI recipients are being hit cutbacks those at the top need to be more respectful of whose taxes their dining on......

[wyly]

ah yes, the 'longest dick' contests engaged in by ze world traveller, who can obtain free orange juice anywhere.....

the "longest dick" contest was started by you with your assumptive condescending post "zzzzzzzzz..... ever been to London? No, I guess not" and I responded and won it...

London is one of the most expensive cities in the world to visit, they charge the same prices for the stupid and the informed.

this informed traveler doesn't pay stupid prices...free hotel stays, free meals, free or discount deals are everywhere for the smart savvy traveler...

[Michael Hardner]

so why do you have an issue with the OP and $10K being an unworthy issue?, Oda's bill was less and was made a national issue, officials abusing their perks need to be exposed, when seasonal EI recipients are being hit cutbacks those at the top need to be more respectful of whose taxes their dining on......

I don't know, something about bandwidth and attention being focused on the right scale of things maybe ?

In Ontario the eHealth "scandal" (someone expenses a cup of tea) made the front page, while the agency was costing hundreds of millions and not doing much under two governments without much notice.

What have they done lately, by the way ?

See what I mean ?

[wyly]

I don't know, something about bandwidth and attention being focused on the right scale of things maybe ?

In Ontario the eHealth "scandal" (someone expenses a cup of tea) made the front page, while the agency was costing hundreds of millions and not doing much under two governments without much notice.

What have they done lately, by the way ?

See what I mean ?

you're looking at individual items and comparing them directly and sure millions look more impressive than thousands...but when you combine the many smaller expenses they add up to millions as well, it's like a death by a thousand cuts...it's depressing when you find how much cash is spent on schmoozing on the public dime...