Saturday August 20, 2016
Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday August 20, 2016
Health Minister Jane Philpott accused of misleading Parliament on limo tab
Health Minister Jane Philpott is facing accusations that she misled the House of Commons by failing to disclose controversial limousine travel she charged to taxpayers earlier this year.
April 25, 2012In a response to a question placed on the order paper by Conservative MP Dan Albas about the use of limousines, Philpott’s department supplied an answer, signed by the minister, categorically denying any of the luxury vehicles were rented.
“With regard to government travel, for the period of Nov. 3, 2015, to April 22, 2016, the minister of health did not use rented limousines while on official business, within Canada or elsewhere,” the department wrote in its answer tabled in the House of Commons in June.
However, Philpott has found herself in the opposition crosshairs this week after it was revealed that she charged taxpayers $1,700 for transportation around the Greater Toronto Area on March 31, using a limousine service owned by someone who campaigned for her in the federal election.
The travel, to four events ranging from Hamilton to Markham and Toronto, took place during the time frame covered by the order paper question.
Philpott’s office has so far failed to provide any explanation for the discrepancy between her response tabled in the House of Commons and her expense accounts.
In an e-mail late to CBC News late Thursday night, her office said “the minister did not, and has not used a limousine.”
However, spokesman Andrew MacKendrick did not respond to e-mails and phone calls from CBC News to explain what kind of vehicle the limousine service provided. (Source: CBC News)

Published in the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix
Letter to the Editor, Hamilton Spectator, August 25, 2016
Spec loves to unfairly skewer Trudeau
Dependably Trudeau and Dr. Jane Philpott, busy limo-using cabinet minister, are ridiculed under an Olympic closing ceremony, end of federal Liberal honeymoon entitlement guise.
Might we expect a cartoon that captures the Liberal’s cabinet meeting last weekend? It was held at a dormitory at Sudbury’s Laurentian University and surely saved quite a bit of money. And that the limo-indulgence was accepted as money is being returned. A complex challenge; much easier to jump at the easy ones.
But, corporately at least, The Spec, to its credit, endorsed Trudeau so surely at least we can expect a bit of balance. Then again, how to deal with Trudeau’s presence at the last performance of the Tragically Hip. A positive cartoon?
Richard Ring, Grimsby