At the height of the fury, the Liberal research bureau tabled an order paper question for all ministerial flights aboard all government aircraft — including helicopters, not just the Challenger jet flight logs to which we’ve grown accustomed to lavishing with taxpayer outrage.
The response from the Department of National Defence, tabled Friday and posted below, reveals that MacKay took other helio flights around the same time. All on government business, of course.
But the first item on the list is also interesting: July 17, 2011, and new associate defence minister Julian Fantino travelled aboard a Griffon helicopter between Ottawa and the Canadian Forces Base in Petawawa, Ontario.
It is unclear from the information provided upon which of the there and back legs Fantino flew. Three weeks earlier, Fantino was in Khandahar to celebrate Canada Day with the troops, so it’s possible this was the final flight of his trip home.
Depending on traffic, that’s usually a two-hour drive up Highway 17. By helicopter, I’d put it at an hour each way
The cost of the short ride is pegged at $5,913.60.
Fantino’s office says he was participating in a “demonstration of military capabilities” at the invitation of the Forces.
“The Minister was joined by the Chief of the Army Staff for demonstrations related to capabilities at CFB Petawawa and of 427 Special Operations Aviation Squadron. This included the CH-146 Griffon based at CFB Petawawa,” his director of communications, Chris McCluskey, said in an email. ” The Minister spoke with the pilots who explained the aircraft’s function and what their needs are.”
McCluskey said Fantino made a round-trip flight between Ottawa and Petawawa.
Original Article
Source: ottawa citizen
Author: Glen McGregor
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