The budget for federal politicians' jet setting around the globe to lavish locales has been slashed, by a joint House of Commons-Senate body.
The proposed budgets for 13 parliamentary friendship associations -- which send MPs and senators around the globe on personal projects on the taxpayers' dime – were rejected.
The co-chair of the committee which rejected the budget says the pricey travel during a time of record deficits is unacceptable.
"What we did is we basically told everybody to go back to the drawing board," David Tkachuk, a Conservative senator who co-chairs the Joint Interparliamentary Council, told The Canadian Press.
"You can't be leaders, telling everybody else to practise restraint and not do it yourself."
CTV parliamentary reporter Richard Madan said many critics say they are unsure what the benefit is for the associations' trips.
"To get the actual agenda of what goes on in these parliamentary-friendship associations in very difficult," he told CTV News Channel. "It's very secretive."
The associations will be receiving some money still, with the 13 receiving just over $800,000. That's less than half of the $1.9 million spent last year.
Two of the 13 associations wanted to spend $1.5 million this fiscal year alone, on trips to trips to Switzerland, Kenya, Swaziland, Belize, Trinidad, India, Austria, Seychelles, Indonesia and Great Britain, according to The Canadian Press.
