cuchulainn
Member
It just never ends on this one, does it?
from the Toronto Star
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...477&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968705899037
from the Toronto Star
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...477&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968705899037
Jun. 25, 2003. 06:26 PM
Gun registry boss spent $205,000 travelling to work
OTTAWA (CP) - The former federal gun registry boss lived only a hop, skip - and a plane ride through two time zones away from Ottawa, where his job required him to attend frequent meetings at a cost to taxpayers of $205,000.
The Canadian Alliance pounced on the information today, calling it the latest example of government waste in a week marked by allegations of exorbitant spending.
Taxpayers funded 56 trips to Ottawa from Gary Webster's home in Edmonton, say documents obtained by the Alliance through the Access to Information Act.
Webster continued living in Edmonton while he was chief officer of the Canadian Firearms Centre, from July 2001 until February of this year.
He had to travel to Ottawa for meetings about twice a month, spending a total of about six days a month in the capital.
Government officials dismissed suggestions that taxpayers funded a 3,600-kilometre commute.
"To suggest that he was commuting back and forth to Ottawa is wrong," said David Austin, a spokesman for the firearms centre.
"The plan was the headquarters was going to join him in Edmonton. In fact, some people had even moved to Edmonton."
But the move from Ottawa was scrapped under measures intended to stem massive cost overruns at the gun-control program.
The auditor general last year slammed the gun control program, which was supposed to cost just $2 million net, but had ballooned to a total of about $1 billion.
Responsibility for the gun registry has since been transferred from the Justice Department to the solicitor general's office. Webster, a Justice employee, left the firearms centre in February.
The Alliance compared Webster's expenses to the scandal that led to privacy commissioner George Radwanski's resignation this week.
"This incident proves that the problems with Liberal government expense accounts go far deeper than just the Radwanski affair," said MP Garry Breitkreuz, Alliance firearms registry critic.
"He's a minor part of the problem."
Over the 23 months that Webster travelled back and forth, most of the management team was still in Ottawa - including senior Justice Department officials and Justice Minister Martin Cauchon, Austin admitted.
The trips usually lasted three days and cost at least $3,400 - including $2,900 for airline tickets and about $500 for meals and a two-night hotel stay.
However, there were none of the lavish dinner expenses that marked the Radwanski affair.
One of Webster's typical travel days cost about $10 for breakfast, $10 for lunch and about $28 for dinner.
Radwanski resigned amid reports of exorbitant expenses such as a $444 dinner for two.
But Breitkreuz called Webster's frequent trips unacceptable.
"I don't think taxpayers should be on the hook to fly somebody 56 times across the country," he said in an interview.
"That is really unnecessary. When you hire somebody they should be able to be where their workplace is."
Webster declined to be interviewed.
