Liberals reveal Tories relocation expenses for staffers under former Prime Minister
Posted Sep 24, 2016 08:09:14 AM.
Last Updated Sep 24, 2016 11:03:00 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA – The Liberals are trying to turn the tables on Conservatives who’ve had a heyday with excessive moving expenses claimed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s two top aides.
They revealed Friday that former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper’s office paid out almost 325-thousand dollars in relocation expenses for 29 staffers — including a single move for one individual that came in at just over 93-thousand.
But the Tories noted the Harper staffers’ expense claims were run up over nine years, whereas Trudeau’s P-M-O managed to rack up 220-thousand dollars for five staffers in just nine months.
On Thursday Trudeau’s chief of staff, Katie Telford, and principal secretary, Gerald Butts, apologized for claiming a total of 207-thousand dollars in expenses incurred moving to Ottawa from Toronto.
The duo have promised to repay 65-thousand of that.
Yesterday two more chiefs of staff of Liberal cabinet ministers announced they’d be paying back a total of almost 55-thousand dollars in expenses they claimed for relocating to Ottawa.