The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is accusing Defence Minister Peter MacKay of living like a king while attending conferences in Europe.The watchdog group has uncovered hotel bills through access-to-information laws that show the minister spent $1,452 a night for a two-night stay at a luxury hotel in Munich and $770 a night for three nights in Istanbul, Turkey.
Gregory Thomas, national director of the taxpayers federation, says the bills go beyond what most people would consider reasonable and pointed out that, in the case of the 2010 Munich visit, the Defence Minister’s staff had rooms in the same hotel for $276 a night.
He says his group decided to file an access request for Mr. MacKay's expenses after it was revealed in September that the Defence Minister had a search-and-rescue helicopter pick him up from a Newfoundland fishing lodge.
Mr. Thomas denies that the group is singling anyone out and says that the federation has requests in on other ministers as well.
He says cabinet ministers shouldn't be expected to stay in “dumps” when they travel, but the federation believes Mr. MacKay could have gotten a room for the same cost as his staff.
Origin
Source: Globe
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