PMO staff charged taxpayers more than $220K

[jimmy4321]

At least they're responsive to the people, so keep it up!

[JLives]

That is good news.

Sadly this administration is showing they would like to try to see how much they can get away with and return if caught than be responsible to start with.

Still it was certainly an unreasonable claim, and the PM should have been the one saying "hey guys be reasonable here" instead of "we're allowed it technically is ok to do this"

It seems to me they are being held accountable and making some good decisions when handling issues. Sure, it would be super great if it didn't happen in the first place but at least they make attempts to make up for it.

Those expenses were completely unreasonable. They are paying them back and it sounds like they will also be making changes to the policy.

[sooperphreek]

wait......so did the deputy PM go to his bank and pay for these guys to make it blow over? or is that just what conservatives do?

[Barney Google]

wait......so did the deputy PM go to his bank and pay for these guys to make it blow over? or is that just what conservatives do?

Wrong then, wrong now.

Justifying bad and poor behavior with past bad and poor behavior is childish

and nothing more than school yard antics.

Spending like drunken unbridled entitled wastefuls should never be tolerated.

If anyone feels this current government is 'entitled' to spend unchecked as they wish

because it's once again their 'turn at the 'trough' they are certainly free to feel that way.

I have never condoned past extravagances and foolishness and I'm not gonna put up with it now.

[Hassel99]

It's unfortunate that the NEW pmo's office has this culture of entitlement. Clearly in this case it comes from the top. No common sense at all.

If you voted for change with the liberals, do you feel ripped off?

[Omnitheo]

From the sounds of it, they did not break any laws, and did everything according to existing policy. Makes me wonder how many members of the previous government claimed similar expenses.

So far this government is doing exactly what they said they'd do, which is be more transparent. With that transparency comes revelations regarding the way ministers have been doing things. This attention has already prompted a number of changes and policy reviews to prevent abuses in the future. Already this puts them miles ahead of the previous government who made no such action, and rarely apologized when their indiscretions came to light.

Hopefully we can get as much house cleaning done as possible before the next government comes in to trash the house again.

[Barney Google]

Here we go folks...*bleep* for tat...

Liberals fire back at Conservatives over staff relocation expenses questions

Figures from Privy Council Office list $300K in expenses to relocate staffers in Harper PMO

"Government House Leader Bardish Chagger told the House of Commons the previous Conservative government spent $300,000 to relocate PMO staffers in response to continued questions about the $1.1 million the Liberals spent to relocate ministers' aides...."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pmo-rel ... -1.3774553


It's ALL unacceptable entitled free-for-all spending and it needs to stop.

Justifying foolish 'handouts' because it was done in the past needs to just plain QUIT!

Only way this is going to get curbed is if Canadian demand transparent accountability from ALL -

no matter the Party affiliation!

[sooperphreek]

Wrong then, wrong now.

Justifying bad and poor behavior with past bad and poor behavior is childish

and nothing more than school yard antics.

Spending like drunken unbridled entitled wastefuls should never be tolerated.

If anyone feels this current government is 'entitled' to spend unchecked as they wish

because it's once again their 'turn at the 'trough' they are certainly free to feel that way.

I have never condoned past extravagances and foolishness and I'm not gonna put up with it now.

justin and you liberals - spend away! the conservatives proved nothing in their 10 years worth noting economically. so the preaching is a moot point.

[Veovis]

Here we go folks...*bleep* for tat...

Liberals fire back at Conservatives over staff relocation expenses questions

Figures from Privy Council Office list $300K in expenses to relocate staffers in Harper PMO

"Government House Leader Bardish Chagger told the House of Commons the previous Conservative government spent $300,000 to relocate PMO staffers in response to continued questions about the $1.1 million the Liberals spent to relocate ministers' aides...."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pmo-rel ... -1.3774553


It's ALL unacceptable entitled free-for-all spending and it needs to stop.

Justifying foolish 'handouts' because it was done in the past needs to just plain QUIT!

Only way this is going to get curbed is if Canadian demand transparent accountability from ALL -

no matter the Party affiliation!

From what I read that was $545,364.26 over 10 years vs 1.1 MILLION on 1 year. A slight change in spending a 2000% increase actually.

However there was one noted as being about 93,000 which is again unreasonable and should not have been paid in full, just like the current ones shouldn't have been.

[techrtr]

People shouldn't be surprised by this. Mind you, maybe they lived in a bathysphere at the bottom of the ocean somewhere and that would account for the extremely high cost of their move.

But seriously, they're cronies of the PM, and of course they're drinking from the trough kept filled by the taxpayers. I would be surprised if they didn't abuse their positions of privilege.

[Hassel99]

Keep in mind the only person who can approve these expenses is the PM. They report directly to him and only him.


He must have dug deep in his training as a Drama Teacher to deiced if it was fair to pay someone $126,000 to move to Ottawa from Toronto.

[sooperphreek]

every last thing goes through the PM? hmmmmm so you are saying that harper knew about duffy and the payout all along?

[Barney Google]

Two more senior Liberal aides to repay $55,000 in moving expenses

Innovation minister's chief of staff expensed almost $104,000 to move from Toronto to Rockcliffe

"Two more Liberal senior staffers are paying back almost $55,000 in moving expenses a day after two of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's most senior staff were compelled to repay $65,000 of their own moving expenses.

Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains' chief of staff Elder Marques received $103,997 in moving expenses when he relocated to Ottawa. He has agreed to reimburse $22,467 worth of the land transfer taxes he paid when he moved to a $1.5 million home in Rockcliffe.

Joseph Pickerill, spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion, issued a statement late Friday to say Julian Ovens, Dion's chief of staff is also paying back $32,130, an amount "representing the personalized cash payout."

Ovens reimbursement also includes some of the land transfer tax he paid on his home in Ottawa. ..."

..."...After first refusing to disclose which staffers were reimbursed for moving expenses, two top advisors to Trudeau —Principal Secretary Gerald Butts and Chief of Staff Katie Telford — issued a statement late Thursday saying that while their moving expense claims followed government rules, they would repay $65,0000 of the amount they received...."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/bains-l ... -1.3776667

[Hassel99]

every last thing goes through the PM? hmmmmm so you are saying that harper knew about duffy and the payout all along?

Every last thing? of course not, who said that? But these are his top 2 personal aids...

[sooperphreek]

and the bailout was from harpers right hand man