Emerson flies eight bureaucrats to Vancouver

[normanchateau]

From page A3, Friday, May 5, 2006, Vancouver Sun:

"Taxpayers paid more than $27,000 to send eight Ottawa-based senior bureaucrats to Vancouver to brief Trade Minister David Emerson in February, according to newly released (Access to Information Act) documents obtained Thursday."

In defending this huge waste of taxpayer funds, Emerson said, "I take full responsibility for it. I want to tell you though, I do not apologize for having senior public servants leave Ottawa and come out to communities and actually see what's going on outside of Ottawa."

Imagine the outcry from opposition Conservative MPs if Liberal Cabinet Minister David Emerson had squandered money by flying eight bureaucrats to Vancouver rather than meeting with them in Ottawa...and rationalizing it by saying Ottawa public servants need to come out to "communities" like Vancouver. Not surprisingly, the Ottawa bureaucrats had no objections to flying out to Vancouver and being lodged at Vancouver's Fairmont Waterfront Hotel.

Looks like David Emerson is competing with former MP Gurmant Grewal for the title of most shameless BC Conservative MP.

[Kiraly]

From page A3, Friday, May 5, 2006, Vancouver Sun:

"Taxpayers paid more than $27,000 to send eight Ottawa-based senior bureaucrats to Vancouver to brief Trade Minister David Emerson in February, according to newly released (Access to Information Act) documents obtained Thursday."

In defending this huge waste of taxpayer funds, Emerson said, "I take full responsibility for it. I want to tell you though, I do not apologize for having senior public servants leave Ottawa and come out to communities and actually see what's going on outside of Ottawa."

Imagine the outcry from opposition Conservative MPs if Liberal Cabinet Minister David Emerson had squandered money by flying eight bureaucrats to Vancouver rather than meeting with them in Ottawa...and rationalizing it by saying Ottawa public servants need to come out to "communities" like Vancouver. Not surprisingly, the Ottawa bureaucrats had no objections to flying out to Vancouver and being lodged at Vancouver's Fairmont Waterfront Hotel.

Looks like David Emerson is competing with former MP Gurmant Grewal for the title of most shameless BC Conservative MP.

The Vancouver Sun article actually said that?

That's too funny.

[normanchateau]

From page A3, Friday, May 5, 2006, Vancouver Sun:

"Taxpayers paid more than $27,000 to send eight Ottawa-based senior bureaucrats to Vancouver to brief Trade Minister David Emerson in February, according to newly released (Access to Information Act) documents obtained Thursday."

In defending this huge waste of taxpayer funds, Emerson said, "I take full responsibility for it. I want to tell you though, I do not apologize for having senior public servants leave Ottawa and come out to communities and actually see what's going on outside of Ottawa."

Imagine the outcry from opposition Conservative MPs if Liberal Cabinet Minister David Emerson had squandered money by flying eight bureaucrats to Vancouver rather than meeting with them in Ottawa...and rationalizing it by saying Ottawa public servants need to come out to "communities" like Vancouver. Not surprisingly, the Ottawa bureaucrats had no objections to flying out to Vancouver and being lodged at Vancouver's Fairmont Waterfront Hotel.

Looks like David Emerson is competing with former MP Gurmant Grewal for the title of most shameless BC Conservative MP.

The Vancouver Sun article actually said that?

That's too funny.

Kiraly, you live in the Lower Mainland. It was in yesterday's Vancouver Sun. Maybe someone you know still has an issue. I was surprised at Emerson's comments. I had expected him to blame Harper which is his usual MO when he steps in something which does not smell good.

[scribblet]

I doubt that the Van. Sun said that, I would like to see the link, tried but couldn't find it/

According to The Montreal Gazette, Page A12 - It was $13,500 there doesn't seem to be any mention of it in any of the other MSM.

Right now the liberals don't have a heck of a lot to do, but I'm sure they'll get a lot of mileage out of the little stuff. LOL

[normanchateau]

I doubt that the Van. Sun said that, I would like to see the link, tried but couldn't find it/

According to The Montreal Gazette, Page A12 - It was $13,500 there doesn't seem to be any mention of it in any of the other MSM.

Right now the liberals don't have a heck of a lot to do, but I'm sure they'll get a lot of mileage out of the little stuff. LOL

Scriblett, I am delighted that you "doubt that the Van. Sun said that." Why would you doubt it unless you believed it was outrageous that Emerson would do such a thing or say such a thing? Sorry, I don't have a link, just the actual newspaper.

According to the Vancouver Sun, Emerson previously disclosed that his department paid just under $14,000 to send four Ottawa bureaucrats to Vancouver. Those four bureaucrats were identified by Emerson as Robert Fonberg, then deputy minister of international trade, and three assistant deputy ministers...Robert Dery, Michael Martin and Ken Sunquist. However, the Vancouver Sun discovered Thursday through the Access to Information Act, that Emerson had failed to provide the names of an additional four Ottawa bureaucrats which his department paid another $13,500 to fly to Vancouver. The other four, named in yesterday's Vancouver Sun, were Danielle Thibault, director general of communications; Ian Burney, director general of bilateral and regional trade policy; Paul Robertson, a director of the trade remedies division; and Andrea Lyon, director general of North American trade policy. So there were eight in all. I guess Emerson thinks flying these eight to Vancouver is more economical than flying him to Ottawa.

[Kiraly]

Memo to Emerson:

Look into video conferencing.

[normanchateau]

Memo to Emerson:

Look into video conferencing.

Well he did promise to be Harper's worst nightmare...

[Hicksey]

Those who after two and a half billion dollars of wasted taxpayer dollars both stolen and withered away, still supported the Liberals and they have the gall to whine about this?

That's worthy of a really hearty laugh.

Waste sucks any way you look, but from whence the whining came sure does make it funny.

[southerncomfort]

Those who after two and a half billion dollars of wasted taxpayer dollars both stolen and withered away, still supported the Liberals and they have the gall to whine about this?

That's worthy of a really hearty laugh.

Waste sucks any way you look, but from whence the whining came sure does make it funny.

guess the whining will continue cos anyone with such an intense dislike of one person (harper) would never see anything good in whatever harper does. Imagine when Harper gets a majority, 4 more years of whining.

[uOttawaMan]

In this case I don't mind the whining, in my view its the opposition (not just the official opposition) keeping an eye on what the gov 't is doing.

Not that it makes the slightest bit of difference in this case, but if the opposition didnt question what was going on with the money in the liberal gov't, we'd be in even bigger trouble than we were.

As long as the "whining" is about concerns that are actually important to taxpayers, that's ok by me.

But if they start whining about things like closed cabinet meeting or something just irrelevant, ill be mad.