Check It Out: Taxpayers foot the bill for unnecessary government travel

By Joan Janzen

Here's a riddle for English teachers heading back to school. Q: How do you console a sad English teacher? A: "Their, there, they're!" As the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) continues to expose unnecessary government spending, taxpayers will also need to be consoled.

Jen Hodgson, an investigative journalist for the CTF, recently discovered the Speaker of the Senate and her delegations billed taxpayers nearly $900,000 for 14 international excursions over three years.

"She makes $268,000 a year plus car and residence allowance and she's still billing taxpayers for travel," Jen said. "In the records, they don't make any mention of any reimbursement to taxpayers."

Senators aren't elected and don't represent constituents. Their need to travel at taxpayers' expense is unnecessary.

"Usually when an official travels abroad they have some kind of report explaining why the trip was successful. For many of these trips we found details from the foreign press releases," Jen explained. The trip to Japan was taken by the Speaker of the Senate, along with a seven-person delegation that included her spouse. The press release described it as a courtesy call, which could have been easily taken care of with a single phone call.

On a trip to Spain and the U.K., the senator had an audience with King Charles, who presented her and her delegation with a ceremonial sword in March 2025.

During their trip to Africa, the group visited major tourist sites and learned about the "sacred forest of Voodoo culture."

They also visited three cities in New Zealand and posed for a photo with a mayor of one of the cities.

"She went on a little tour to Christchurch and Wellington," Jen said. "It was clearly a tourist destination and was made to look official by posing with a city official."

According to the Canada Minute report, the CTF says the real total is higher because disclosures for trips to Chile, Tunisia and the Netherlands are incomplete in parliamentary financial records.

Not only was she travelling, but records showed she was also throwing lavish receptions, luncheons and dinner parties while on these trips. "She was also living large on hospitality on taxpayer dollars," she added.

CTF Director Franco Terrazzano said, "I know so many people who have never been to Europe and one trip to Spain is a trip of a lifetime, but no one is spending anywhere close to six figures. And yet you have an unelected senator who represents nobody but herself who is looking for ways to live the high life on other people's dime. Even if they have an amazing reason to go on these trips, how do they spend close to six figures? It gets easier when you're spending somebody else's money instead of your own."

Although Franco has been working with the CTF for eight years, he had no idea the travel expenditures were this extravagant. However, the only way to fight back is to make people aware, and they do that because of the generosity of their supporters.

"But now we have to take some action," he advised.

As the CTF podcast continued, Kris Sims advised Canadians to ask themselves if the Senate is worth this expense. "Let us know," she said. "And sign our petition to rein in expenses like this."

Unfortunately, the CTF also discovered evidence of unnecessary spending closer to home, right here in Saskatchewan. CTF's Prairie Director, Gage Haubrich, discovered Saskatoon City Hall spent nearly $300,000 on three large plastic rocks made of various recycled products, which were placed around the city.

A news release justified the expenditure, saying the sculptures foster a deeper connection between residents and environment and help people explore new relationships with the materials we discard.

Some farmers pointed out they could have provided real rocks for free, but instead the city paid $100,000 for each rock.

But there's more ... Last April the Saskatchewan government chartered two private planes for a round trip from Regina to Saskatoon for 17 politicians. The excursion amounted close to $17,000, or $967 per passenger, for a trip that is a three-hour drive. Their destination was the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association convention.

Let's face it, if it wasn't for the work of the CTF, taxpayers would never find out about the wasteful spending of our tax dollars.