Foreign Affairs Minister Peter Mackay criticized for Extravagant Expenses

Compiled by Peter Tremblay

	Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay.

Conservative Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay's blatant misuse of taxpayer dollars is an abuse of his office and an affront to Canadian taxpayers, Liberal MP Yasmin Ratansi said on February 6, 2007.

Mr. MacKay and five staffers traveled to Rome this past July to join U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at a summit on the Middle East. At least 11 commercial flights run between Canada and Rome each day, for about $3,000 per person, but Mr. MacKay chose instead to bill taxpayers $45,000 so he and his staff could travel in the luxury of the Challenger jet.

"Prime Minister Stephen Harper preaches an endless refrain of accountability, but he seemingly condones his ministers' wasteful and irresponsible spending," said Ms. Ratansi.

"How can the Conservatives continue to preach frugality and responsibility while asking Canadian taxpayers to foot the bill for Mr. MacKay's inexcusably extravagant expenses?"

	Traitors among Us is a book for further reading on this subject.

What makes this excessive expense even more shameful is the fact that the passenger manifest for the flight shows the Challenger returned home via Ireland with only one passenger. This high-flying individual wasn't the Minister or even the Deputy Minister - instead, it was the Minister's spin doctor and director of communications, whose solo joyride across the Atlantic cost taxpayers almost $23,000.

"Rather than rub shoulders with ordinary Canadians, the minister and his staff settled those same ordinary Canadians with the bill for their Conservative flying limousine," said Ms. Rantansi. "How can the government justify this outrageous abuse of taxpayer dollars?"

Recommended Reading:

Traitors among Us: The Betrayal of Canada, ISBN: 1897036310, and 1897036078, Agora Publishing Consortium and The Canadian National Newspaper, 2007.