Exclusive breaking news: Christy Clark’s Expensive Taste

keith1612
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Re: Exclusive breaking news: Christy Clark’s Expensive Taste

Post by keith1612 »

Static wrote:Serious Keith? You clearly have never travelled. If you have you would realize that $120 room and $50 food budget is a joke.


sure i have travelled, i am saying thats a fair base amount and they can kick in the extra charges.
$20 will get you a decent meal in most places not including drinks that taxpayers shouldnt pay for.
if the official feels they need to travel to places overseas with higher costs then either dont go or kick in for the extra.
with huge deficits its time the BC and Canadian governments trimmed the fat and stopped wasting our money in resturants and fancy holidays.
dennys and mcdonalds are good enough for us then they are fine for them also.
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797hauler
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Re: Exclusive breaking news: Christy Clark’s Expensive Taste

Post by 797hauler »

Static wrote:Serious Keith? You clearly have never travelled. If you have you would realize that $120 room and $50 food budget is a joke.



In my rigging days, I used to get $25 a day for food, and stayed in a $50 dive, And I did it for awhile, now thats a joke
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Re: Exclusive breaking news: Christy Clark’s Expensive Taste

Post by Static »

These people represent Canada. I would like to think of Canada as something more than Denny's, McDonald's, and Motels. How do you know that Christy was not paying for dinners at meetings trying to create business deals? I'm sure the people in charge of business or other governments would think highly of us for treating them to a Big Mac meal. It would be straight up embarrassing. Furthermore, the travel expenses are a drop in the bucket, trimming hotel expenses are nominal. There are far more areas to cut costs that would have a much larger impact.
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Re: Exclusive breaking news: Christy Clark’s Expensive Taste

Post by John500 »

It all should be within reason. Unfortunately many politicians seem to think once in office they need the "gold" treatment.
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797hauler
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Re: Exclusive breaking news: Christy Clark’s Expensive Taste

Post by 797hauler »

John500 wrote:It all should be within reason. Unfortunately many politicians seem to think once in office they need the "gold" treatment.



Yup, I agree. on the golbal CALGARY news this morning, one of the ministers paid back over $10,000.00 for claimed expenses she wasnt etitled to.

http://www.calgarysun.com/2012/12/06/al ... ing-fiasco


further, BC needs to take on the same policy alberta holds in regards to public viewing of expenses so theres no LAVISH spending.
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maple leaf
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Re: Exclusive breaking news: Christy Clark’s Expensive Taste

Post by maple leaf »

keith1612 wrote:
Last week, the Legislative Assembly Management Committee, chaired by Barisoff and made up of both Liberal and NDP MLAs, agreed to post quarterly expense reports online – but continue to withhold actual receipts, ensuring the public is kept in the dark on where public money is actually going.

i dont think either party is willing to be fully honest on personal spending with taxpayer money.


All the spending might be able to be justified ,the problem is that it is all hidden from us.If it is all on the up and up ,why is it not being openly shown.Even the names of the Hotels were redacted from our view.What are they afraid of .No matter who is in government ,there needs to be more accountability .
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Veovis
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Re: Exclusive breaking news: Christy Clark’s Expensive Taste

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I would think it partly doesn't have full disclosure as people will make a scandal out of every meal that was $40.00 instead of $25.00 dollars or $6.00 at McDonalds. Now you are spending hundreds of thousands for people to explain why on a budget in the billions a 25 dollar meal isn't a material issue.

People will go a long way to make a big deal out of little things, however I would like their spending to be more regulated.
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maple leaf
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Re: Exclusive breaking news: Christy Clark’s Expensive Taste

Post by maple leaf »

Veovis wrote:I would think it partly doesn't have full disclosure as people will make a scandal out of every meal that was $40.00 instead of $25.00 dollars or $6.00 at McDonalds. Now you are spending hundreds of thousands for people to explain why on a budget in the billions a 25 dollar meal isn't a material issue.

People will go a long way to make a big deal out of little things, however I would like their spending to be more regulated.



Where I used to work,and had to go out of town on the company dime and stay overnight.I was given a budget of x amount of dollars for motels and food.When I came back I had to hand all receipts in to the accountant and they had to be itemized .If I spent money on a book or news paper at the motel kiosk, or a personal expense ,that was deducted from the total.If i spent more than the x amount allotted me ,that came out of my pocket.If there is a budget then it doesn't matter if I choose to have a 40.00 meal or a big mac meal as long as it is within the budget.The hard part would be for them to come up with a travel budget that would appease everyone ,but it is something that needs to be done.
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Re: Exclusive breaking news: Christy Clark’s Expensive Taste

Post by Veovis »

Having reasonable budgets set would be good I think, that they then have to stick to or pay the difference.

For example the travel budget annually for an MLA in Victoria might be 0 but the MLA from Dawson Creek area may receive 15,000 a year to use as flights from there to parliament would be costly.

Whether they use their budget or not wouldn't be a big concern, and any variances and overages would trigger a full detail examination of the expenses.
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Re: Exclusive breaking news: Christy Clark’s Expensive Taste

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maple leaf wrote:The hard part would be for them to come up with a travel budget that would appease everyone ,but it is something that needs to be done.


Well, they do have travel budgets, and they're set up in advance, and everybody know how much they're allowed to spend, and so on...Some people get the idea that provincial govts just spend money Willy-nilly.
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Alvis
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Re: Exclusive breaking news: Christy Clark’s Expensive Taste

Post by Alvis »

Static wrote:Serious Keith? You clearly have never travelled. If you have you would realize that $120 room and $50 food budget is a joke.

Then you must also agree that what give as welfare per month is also "a joke" and not livable?
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ukcanuck
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Re: Exclusive breaking news: Christy Clark’s Expensive Taste

Post by ukcanuck »

keith1612 wrote:
honestly YES.
give them a daily $50 food allowance and a daily $120 hotel allowance when its needed and let them pay for extra's.
the government expects welfare and EI recipients to live off peanuts and then they go out for lavish lunches with expensive bottles of wine on our dime.
wean them away from the trough and teach them this is unacceptable with todays economy.
christy could use a few more salads and less steak by the look of it anyway.

You want to be careful what you wish for, maybe you forget that being an MLA or deputy minister in particular is a difficult job that not just any rwede, lone wolf or veovis can do. It takes skill experience and qualifications to run this province and as much as we like to poke fun at them, without them ...well you get what you pay for is the adage.

If we are going to attract our brightest and best to do the job we have to make it worth their while.

To be worried about the nickel and dimes and making people stay at the travel lodge and eating the garbage food you get for 20 bucks a plate, plus the crappy pay (by comparison to what they can get on the open market)
Barisoff for example has a family business he divested himself from to be an MLA which could have paid him much more than his MLA salary and pension and you know he isn't staying in fleabag motels on business trips of his own...

Anyway, if you cheap out and grind on every penny and threaten penalties and make the job so intolerable that no one wants the headache. We will end up with the clowns in charge of the circus....amiright veovis?
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Re: Exclusive breaking news: Christy Clark’s Expensive Taste

Post by Gilchy »

Alvis wrote:Then you must also agree that what give as welfare per month is also "a joke" and not livable?


Why should the elected leader and representitve of our province have to live on the same budget as a welfare recipient?
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Alvis
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Re: Exclusive breaking news: Christy Clark’s Expensive Taste

Post by Alvis »

Gilchy wrote:
Why should the elected leader and representitve of our province have to live on the same budget as a welfare recipient?

Well 1) they keep telling us we are broke and need to practice some "austerity"2) they are the ones who control how much welfare one gets and keep telling the welfare recipient that they are getting more than enough to survive.
Now is it not a little hypocritical to say that welfare is more than enough while at the same time racking up $500,000/year in "expenses" like day spas and expensive hotels ($70/plate breakfast) on the tax payers dime?
I ask you: Why do elected officials think that once they get into office they are warranted to live like a King or a Sultan?
Man can now fly in the air like a bird, swim under the ocean like a fish, he can burrow into the ground like a mole. Now if only he could walk the earth like a man, this would be paradise.
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Gilchy
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Re: Exclusive breaking news: Christy Clark’s Expensive Taste

Post by Gilchy »

Alvis wrote:Well 1) they keep telling us we are broke and need to practice some "austerity"2) they are the ones who control how much welfare one gets and keep telling the welfare recipient that they are getting more than enough to survive.
Now is it not a little hypocritical to say that welfare is more than enough while at the same time racking up $500,000/year in "expenses" like day spas and expensive hotels ($70/plate breakfast) on the tax payers dime?
I ask you: Why do elected officials think that once they get into office they are warranted to live like a King or a Sultan?


While I do think there should be reasonable limits on expense accounts, the key word is "reasonable". When travelling to promote BC, they should professionally act the part. Welfare is designed to help people who genuinely need the support to survive, not be some baseline income for highly skilled workers.
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