SASKATOON — A minister’s $52,600 trip to the Philippines and Thailand became the latest political flashpoint Tuesday, with the Saskatchewan NDP questioning the cost and the provincial government defending the travel as necessary to build international partnerships.
The provincial government and the Saskatchewan NDP traded accusations on the issue of travel expenses on Tuesday, July 7, with the former issuing separate statements explaining the reasons behind the trip, while the latter said there are cheaper ways of spending taxpayers’ money.
Opposition caucus chair Matt Love and Advanced Education shadow minister Tajinder Grewal, standing outside the constituency office of Advanced Education Minister Ken Cheveldayoff, demanded answers for spending more than $52,600 during a nine-day official trip led by the Saskatoon Willowgrove MLA.
Love said newly released travel expense records showed that Cheveldayoff, his chief of staff and two other government officials spent the amount over nine days in the Philippines and Thailand, with almost $42,000 covering airfare, while families are struggling.
“That's more than $10,000 per trip, raising even more questions is the fact that fellow Sask. Party ministers appear to have made similar trips to similar parts of the world in Asia and South America at a far more reasonable cost. This trip by this minister is an outlier,” said Love.
“Now, at a time when Saskatchewan families are struggling to afford groceries, housing, utilities and childcare. These numbers for these flights are hard to believe. The minister seems to be living a first-class life while many Saskatchewan families struggle to afford the basics, like putting food on the table.”
He added that Saskatchewan taxpayers need answers if they funded business-class seats and luxury upgrades, such as champagne, caviar and hot towels, while flying at 30,000 feet, suggesting there were reasonable economy-class flights that cost only around $3,100 per person.
Grewal added that the issue is not about the goal of building relationships with international partners, which is good for the province, but rather about knowing that public money is spent responsibly during a time when many in Saskatchewan are facing affordability challenges.
“Food keeps getting more expensive. Many students are questioning if they can afford to make it to graduation day. Families are making sacrifices every single day to help their children access post-secondary education,” said Grewal.
“There are other issues. Saskatchewan Polytechnic has laid off hundreds of its faculty and staff because of budget pressures imposed by this government, specifically cuts made by this minister [Cheveldayoff]. Students, faculty, and institutions are constantly told: There's not enough money.”
He added that this matters after the government spent nearly $42,000 on airfare for one ministerial trip, and that it needs to justify the use of a first-class flight, saying Saskatchewan people paid for the trip and need answers.
Province defends trip, questions NDP travel
The government caucus also questioned Opposition MLAs about their own travel issues, including accepting airfare in other parts of the country and in other European nations. A document sent to the Conflict of Interest Commissioner showed that the NDP’s travel expenses were privately sponsored.
“The NDP are asking questions about government travel that helped to diversify our markets, promoted Saskatchewan industries and institutions, and falls within approved government policies. The NDP also need to answer questions about their own travel,” said the statement.
“Over the past year, NDP MLAs have accepted thousands of dollars in sponsored travel across Canada, the United Kingdom and Germany, gifted from party donors and private groups. For example, NDP Leader Carla Beck accepted a gift of hotels and flights from Unifor to an undisclosed location. Unifor has donated over $400,000 to the NDP in the past 10 years.”
In a separate statement, the provincial government said the airfare tickets were purchased for the Saskatchewan delegation in accordance with the government travel policy, which allows business-class seating for international trips, including support staff to assist the Advanced Education deputy minister, who is visually impaired.
“The objectives of Minister Cheveldayoff’s mission to the Philippines and Thailand were to create new partnership opportunities for Saskatchewan post-secondary institutions, deepen relationships in these priority markets to attract workers to the province, including health care workers, and to expand study abroad opportunities for Saskatchewan students,” added the statement.
Residents still need answers
Love reiterated that the government still needs to explain how the money was spent, how it was used and what Saskatchewan taxpayers paid for, while families continue to struggle and are cancelling their summer travel plans with rising grocery costs amid inflation.
“If it is this government's policy to send a minister and three officials on business class flights, costing over $10,000 per person, I think Saskatchewan people want to know what we got for that? What luxuries did this minister have? What luxuries did he charge the people for? Justifying flights over $10,000 per person is inconceivable. If this is their policy, I think they need to have a second look at that,” he added.
“I would say many of these ministers, colleagues and cabinet also took trips. They went to Asia and South America, and they did most of those at reasonable prices. We want Saskatchewan to have a good standing nationally and internationally. We know that there's an important work to do. Why is this minister's trip so much more expensive than every other minister's travel? How can he justify $10,000 per flight while bringing 3 staff members with him? It is simply inconceivable at $10,000 per flight, and I would love to get an answer from this minister to justify those costs to taxpayers.”
