Minister for Economy, Innovation and Energy Pierre Fitzgibbon’s foreign assignments are costing taxpayers more and more. His attendance at the business summit in Davos, Switzerland in January alone resulted in more than $56,000 in expenses, including $31,000 in travel expenses.
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In addition to the business class flight ($8,609), more than $21,000 was spent hiring a driver for the duration of the eight-day mission, which also included stopovers in Zurich and Frankfurt.
However, free shuttles will criss-cross Davos to reduce pollution and congestion caused by heavy car traffic during the event.
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“Princely Flavors”
“We expect a business minister to meet business actors and bring back investment, but it still does so at a very high cost,” responded Nicolas Gagnon, director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation in Quebec.
“We see no indication in this that the minister is trying to spend a little more cautiously,” he added. […] In the end, it’s the taxpayers who pay for its princely taste.
Also included in the total bill of $56,553 is $5,500 for Mr. Fitzgibbon’s lodging, more than $7,700 for room rental and nearly $12,000 in travel expenses for a consultant at his firm.
We must also add the expenses of the four Investissement Québec (IQ) employees who accompanied the minister during the mission, which have not been made public.
However, Mathieu St-Amand, spokesman for Pierre Fitzgibbon, told the Journal that the minister’s official car was used to transport the IQ team.
“It costs”
More than $21,000: “It’s expensive, but unfortunately if he needs a driver for eight days, it costs just as much,” commented Christophe Serrano of Corpodia Voyages corporatifs.
Christophe Serrano, Corpodia Corporate Travel Photo from LinkedIn
Economic missions “often bring in new foreign direct investment and also create export opportunities for Quebec companies,” Mr. St-Amand said.
However, it should be noted that other ministers have significantly lower travel expenses on assignments abroad. Deputy Prime Minister Geneviève Guilbault paid less than $8,400 for a six-day trip to Europe in March, while Agriculture Minister André Lamontagne paid just over $20,000 for a seven-day trip to Japan, also in March .
In Davos, Mr. Fitzgibbon attended conferences and met with executives from approximately twenty companies including Amazon, Microsoft, Volvo, Moderna, Ericsson, Glencore, Google and SNC-Lavalin.
The CEO of the Caisse de Depot, Charles Emond, was also present in Davos in January. His trip cost the institution more than $24,000, including $15,800 in travel expenses.
new entry
In the first three months of 2023, Pierre Fitzgibbon broke a new record for his company’s travel expenses: over $125,000. It broke the $300,000 mark for the full fiscal year 2022-2023, well above the previous peak of nearly $250,000 in 2019-2020.
Since Mr. Fitzgibbon became Minister in Fall 2018, his most expensive missions have been to Korea, Japan and China in December 2019 (over US$147,000 for five people) and to the Hanover Fair in Germany in Spring 2019 (over US$147,000 -dollars for five people). $155,000 for 14 people).
World Economic Forum 2023
Photo from the WEF website
Location: Davos (Switzerland)
Date: January 2023
Duration: 8 nights
Minister’s travel expenses: $30,579
Lodging and other expenses: $14,481
Companion Fee (1): $11,493
Total bill: $56,553
United Nations Climate Change Conference
Minister Fitzgibbon at the United Nations Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, November 2022. Photo from Pierre Fitzgibbon’s Twitter account
Location: Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt)
Date: November 2022
Duration: 9 nights
Minister’s travel expenses: $16,698
Lodging and other expenses: $5745
Companion Fees (1): $20,146
Total bill: $42,589
Farnborough Air Show
Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon (right) accompanied by his Ontario counterparts Victor Fedeli (left) and Canada François-Philippe Champagne at the Farnborough Show in July 2022. Photo from Peter Fitzgibbon’s Twitter account
Location: Farnborough (UK)
Date: July 2022
Duration: 8 nights
Minister’s travel expenses: $5,588
Lodging and other expenses: $24,822
Entry Fees (5): $25,696
Total bill: $56,106
World Economic Forum 2022
Location: Davos (Switzerland)
Date: May 2022
Duration: 5 nights
Minister’s travel expenses: $23,015
Lodging and other expenses: $12,821
Companion Fee (1): $8261
Total bill: $44,097
mission innovation
Photo from Pierre Fitzgibbon’s Twitter account
Location: Jerusalem (Israel)
Date: March 2022
Duration: 7 nights
Minister’s travel expenses: $5,637
Lodging and other expenses: $5167
Entry Fees (2): $10,797
Total bill: $21,601
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