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.
![Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator,Ê Wednesday April 25, 2012 Bev Oda apologizes for swanky hotel stay International Cooperation Minister Bev Oda said sorry Tuesday for charging taxpayers with an expensive hotel stay in London, EnglandÊlast year, but her apology failed to satisfy critics. "The expenses are unacceptable, should never have been charged to taxpayers," Oda said in the House of Commons in response to aÊquestion from interim Liberal leader Bob Rae. "I have repaid the costs associated with [the] changing of hotels and I unreservedlyÊapologize." Oda's travel expenses caused controversy on Monday when it was revealed that she was originally booked to stay at a hotel where she wasÊattending a conference last June, but had her staff rebook her at the swanky Savoy hotel, where her stay cost her about $665 per night. TheÊtotal bill for her three-day stay including the room and room service was $1,995. The room charges included an orange juice that cost $16. Oda also hired a car and driver, at a cost of about $1,000 per day, to bring her to the hotel she was originally supposed to stay at andÊincurred a cancellation charge for refusing to stay at the Grange St. Paul's hotel. After the Canadian Press broke the story on Monday, Oda's office said she would personally cover the tab for the difference in costÊbetween the two hotels, the cancellation fee, and the orange juice. In total, she repaid $1,353.81. "She only did this because she got caught," NDP House leader Nathan Cullen said Tuesday. (Source: CBC News) http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/bev-oda-apologizes-for-swanky-hotel-stay-1.1169374](https://i2.wp.com/mackaycartoons.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/2012-04-25.jpg?resize=300%2C240&ssl=1)
April 25, 2012
In 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