Watchdog groups call on House of Commons to close spending loophole

Two advocacy groups are calling on the House of Commons to close a loophole that has allowed members of Parliament travelling to party conventions to expense more than half a million dollars over the past year.

They are also calling for the money billed to the House of Commons through the loophole to be reimbursed, in whole or in part.

"Taxpayers shouldn't be subsidizing politicians to go to their political conventions," said Franco Terrazzano, federal director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. "Political parties have a lot of money. Politicians have a lot of money. Normal working people don't. So this was wrong and the money needs to be paid back."

Terrazzano said the money should be paid back either by the MPs who claimed the travel expenses or by their parties.

He said he also wants to see the cost of cabinet retreats reined in, adding the Liberal government's retreats to discuss affordability cost taxpayers more than a million dollars.

Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch, also called for the loophole to be eliminated.

"The loophole never should have been put into the rules," he said, "and the rule should be changed immediately so that if a party holds a caucus meeting at the same time and location as a party convention, MPs and senators and their staff would be required to pay half of their travel and accommodations costs, and any family members that travel with them would have to pay all their own costs."

CBC News reported that House of Commons spending rules have allowed MPs to charge $538,314 in travel, accommodation, meals and incidentals to Parliament since May 2023 to attend caucus meetings connected to party conventions, including more than $84,000 for "designated travellers."

Under House of Commons rules, MPs generally cannot charge expenses related to partisan political activities such as party conventions or fundraising events. But MPs can claim expenses related to national caucus meetings, which are considered part of their parliamentary functions.

If a party holds a national caucus meeting at the same time and place as its party convention, MPs, their employees and designated travellers can charge travel, two nights of accommodation, meals and incidentals to attend the caucus meeting — effectively subsidizing their travel to the convention at the same time.

Conservative MPs accounted for 79 per cent of the associated spending by MPs, billing their House of Commons office budgets for $426,283 to go to Quebec City in September 2023. Conservative MPs were the only ones to bill Parliament for spouses' travel to a caucus meeting connected to a convention during the past year.

New Democratic Party MPs billed Parliament $83,087 from their MP office budgets to send MPs and a dozen of their employees to Hamilton, Ont. in October 2023. The Bloc Québécois, whose MPs are all located in Quebec, billed their MP office budgets $28,943 for travel to Drummondville, Que. in May 2023.

Delegates at the NDP Convention in Hamilton, Ont. cast their ballots on whether to hold a leadership review on Saturday, October 14, 2023. (Peter Power/The Canadian Press)

The only party recognized in the House whose MPs did not file expenses for a caucus meeting connected to a convention in the past year was the Liberal Party. Liberal MPs have, however, filed expense claims for stand-alone caucus meetings, like their September 2022 meeting in St. Andrews, N.B., which included expenses incurred by designated travellers.

CBC News has identified additional expenses for caucus meetings connected to party conventions, charged to a different House of Commons budget. While MPs can charge travel costs to their MP office budgets, party leaders and other House officers have access to House officers' budgets.

While the leaders of the Conservatives, the NDP and the Bloc did not file expense claims from their MP office budgets for their own travel to caucuses connected to party conventions, Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet expensed $594 from his House of Commons leader's budget to travel to Drummondville and four of his employees charged $2,298, bringing the Bloc's expenses to $31,835.

Singh billed his leader's budget for $37 in meals and incidentals in Hamilton, while one of his employees charged $1,197 to that same budget, bringing the NDP's total claims to $84,321.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre did not expense his leader's budget for his own travel but one of his employees charged $614. One of Conservative whip Kerry Lynne Findlay's employees charged $970 to her House officer's budget, bringing the total for Conservative MPs to $427,867.

The additional expenses charged to House officers' budgets bring the total tab to the House of Commons for caucus meetings connected to party conventions since May 2023 to $544,023.