How much did area MPs spend in the first quarter?

Why MPs spending more for travel post-pandemic Political analyst Lori Turnbull says MPs are opting to travel more to do business post-COVID pandemic restrictions.

The numbers are out when it comes to how much money Members of Parliament spent in the first quarter of 2023-2024.

Locally, From April 1 to June 30, MPs spent a total of $138,468.18 on travel expenses, with Lianne Rood from Lambton-Kent-Middlesex expensing the most, followed by Dave Epp of Chatham-Kent-Leamington.

According to the document, expenses included reflect the characteristics of the constituency that each member represents. Constituency size, population and location are factors that influence members’ expenses.

Salaries

The salaries of member's employees

Travel

Includes the travel expenses charged under the Travel Points System and to the MPs office budget.

Hospitality

Hospitality expenses incurred for events in the fulfillment of parliamentary functions.

Beyond the first quarter and looking at the first half of the year from January 1, 2023 to June 30,2023, Canadian MPs spent more than $14.6 million on travel, an approximately 10 per cent increase over the previous six months, according to a CTV News analysis of expense reports.

Working out to about $80,000 per day, Canadian taxpayer money was used for travel costs including commercial airfare, ground transportation, accommodation and meals for MPs, their immediate families and staff. On average, Canada's 338 MPs spent more than $43,000 each on work and constituency-related travel between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2023, or more than $7,200 each per month.

The publicly available data does not include the cost of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and cabinet members' official travel aboard Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft and government vehicles, which would push their totals much higher.