Province bows to pressure, posts premier’s travel expenses

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This article was published 08/10/2024 (413 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Out-of-province travel expenses filed by premiers Wab Kinew and Heather Stefanson in the last fiscal year have been posted online — just one day after the Manitoba government was accused of keeping them under wraps.

The release of the documents Tuesday took place after the Free Press asked questions about why the expenses had not been reported for more than a year and under two different governments, the NDP and Progressive Conservatives.

Questioned about it at an unrelated news conference Tuesday morning, Kinew said the expenses would be released “probably later today.”

Kinew said he wasn’t concerned the expenses hadn’t been made public and that his government had been accused of a lack of transparency.

“I told people to post them and now they will be posted,” he said.

The documents cover the period of April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024, which takes in the final six months of Stefanson’s term as premier, as well as Kinew’s first six months as premier.

The expenses show Kinew’s first trip as premier, about two weeks after being sworn in, was to a meeting of the Council of the Federation, composed of the premiers of each province and territory, and health summit held in Halifax from Nov. 4 to 7. The airfare cost $1,291.25, while the accommodation, meals and phone calls cost $1,311.24 for a total of $2,602.49.

Two weeks later, Kinew attended the Grey Cup game in Hamilton, from Nov. 17 to 20, and claimed $1,412.34 for air fare.

As per the disclosure, Kinew did not expense anything for hotels or meals.

Stefanson’s last out-of-province trip as premier was to the western premiers conference in Whistler, B.C., from June 25 to 27, 2023. She billed $520.08 for air fare and $1,007.25 for accommodation and meals.

During the final reporting period of Stefanson’s term, from July 1, to Sept. 30, 2023, she did not bill any expenses for an out-of-province trip. That period coincided with the provincial election campaign which resulted in the Tories being swept out of office in October.

There was no disclosure of travel expense reports by cabinet ministers.

On Monday, both Finance Minister Adrien Sala and interim Tory Leader Wayne Ewasko criticized each other for not posting the out-of-province travel expenses.

Sala said the Tories had “failed to follow the department reporting functions required by law.”

For his part, Ewasko accused the NDP of making excuses and stalling.

“Because they don’t want Manitobans to know how much Wab Kinew and his cabinet have spent on travel, meals and hotels for themselves and their staff in less than a year,” he said.

Gage Haubrich of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation criticized the non-disclosure, saying the government has to be more transparent because, “taxpayers are paying for the premier’s out-of-province travel expenses and taxpayers should know where the money is spent.”

Paul Thomas, professor emeritus of political studies at the University of Manitoba, said while the amounts for the premier’s trips have finally been made public, there are likely some expenses that aren’t included because they were paid by government departments.

“There probably are some judgment calls,” said Thomas.

“Creative accounting in government is a perennial practice.”

Thomas said travel expenses are one of the issues the public can understand because, while they might not understand billions of dollars in government spending, many know what it is like to book a plane fare or a hotel room.

“In an era of cynicism, we go overboard,” he said.

As for the delay in reporting the expenses, Thomas said it’s possible the government was too busy.

“This government has had a long extensive agenda of what they want to accomplish and tried to get on everything at once,” he said.

“If they are distracted by pressing matters, and didn’t do the expenses, you can see why.”

Other trips Kinew took in the first three months of this year were to Ottawa, for the funeral of former federal NDP leader Ed Broadbent, from Jan. 27 to 29. He claimed $670.25 for air fare and $377.30 was spent on two nights for hotel and meals.

Kinew expensed $1,684.48 in relation to meetings with the Economic Club of Canada and the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, held in Toronto from March 3 to 5. The entire amount was spent on air fare with no amount filed for hotels or meals.

It cost $2,170.79 for Kinew to go to Montreal for the funeral of former prime minister Brian Mulroney, from March 22 to 23, with $1,947.24 for air fare and $223.55 for hotel and meals.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca