Liberals returned expenses as small as $3 amid controversy

OTTAWA -- Health Minister Jane Philpott and her staff reimbursed expenses as small as $3 in the aftermath of a controversy over her use of a car service, newly released records show.

The documents, released in the House of Commons last Friday, in response to a question by Saskatoon-Grasswood MP Kevin Waugh, detail a number of expenses returned to the Government of Canada by 16 ministers or their staff. In most cases, the records don't note who incurred the cost.

The expenses range in size, with a single $3 parking charge being the smallest. Others run to the hundreds of dollars, including flight or rail reimbursements that had to be returned to the Receiver General of Canada. Meal per diems are among the more common expenses returned to government coffers.

Treasury Board President Scott Brison repaid $531.38 after he cancelled a flight and it was reimbursed to his personal credit card rather than his government credit card.

Staff in the office of Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay repaid just over $1,000 in parking costs that were deemed to be best paid by the employees rather than the government.

A spokesman for MacAulay said staff were driving to Parliament from Agriculture Canada’s headquarters 11 kilometres from downtown Ottawa as part of their duties, but the expense review determined they should pay out-of-pocket for parking.

"The Minister deemed that these expenses were best paid for by the employees and so all previously-incurred expenses of that nature were voluntarily re-reimbursed," Oliver Anderson wrote in an email to CTV News.

Anderson didn't answer a question about whether the staff were still driving to and from Parliament Hill and paying for their own parking, or whether they are now using taxis.

Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi or his staff returned reimbursement after taking Uber early this year. Sohi's spokeswoman said the rules weren't clear around the alternative to taxis, but they eventually decided instead to rely on cabs, for which employees are provided with chits. Most of the reimbursements from Sohi's office were made last March.

The bulk of the repayments started around the end of August and continued through September, suggesting each office was going through its expenses following the controversy over Philpott's car and driver expenses.

Routinely verified

Philpott said, in August, that she would refund just over $3,700 in car expenses following media reports about the above-market cost for using the service owner by someone who had campaigned for her during the 2015 election. She also promised to refund $520 for an Air Canada Maple Leaf Club pass and $381 for a Nexus pass and a suitcase. Philpott apologized for the expenses.

The records show Philpott and her staff also repaid a number of parking expense reimbursements, as well as $127.93 in decorations purchased last December. The document notes the staff followed "all government directives" and Treasury Board guidelines, but "reimbursed items reflect a greater review to ensure any items expensed respect taxpayer dollars.

In some cases the reimbursement seemed to be due to an error, whether on the part of a minister or the office administering the refunds.

A staffer in Environment Minister Catherine McKenna's office returned $403.38 in hotel costs after being reimbursed too much following a December, 2015 trip, McKenna's spokeswoman said. The overpayment was due to a data entry error, Caitlin Workman said.

Employment Minister MaryAnn Mihychuk had to return $2,426.83 in air fare costs after claiming the expense in error two weeks after she was sworn into cabinet.

"Minister Mihychuk attended several events in her first days as minister, with limited staff to advise on travel policy guidelines. After receiving instruction on the Treasury Board’s Travel Directive, Minister Mihychuk reimbursed one instance of an incorrect airfare claim," spokeswoman Carlene Variyan wrote in an email.

Brison's spokesman said the expense review is standard.

"Exempt [political] staff routinely verify and examine expense claims from their offices in order to ensure that all claims are reasonable and follow the relevant policies," Jean-François Lefort wrote in an email to CTV News.

"Respecting taxpayers' money is important to our government and we seek efficiencies in order to minimize costs whenever possible."

He wouldn't say whether the review was already planned prior to news coverage of Philpott's expenses.

Ian Stedman, who teaches public sector ethics at York University, says Canadians should trust that the government has a system that provides proper oversight, but "it's someone's job - mine as an academic or yours as a journalist - to every once in a while check in on that."

"It's important to get their attention because we do see that there are reimbursements that have slipped through the cracks. So now they've gone back and they've fixed it. Hopefully in future they don't slip through the cracks before they get fixed," he said.