‘Inaccurate reports’: B.C. finance minister challenges $6,600 limo bill

A B.C. minister’s spending is coming under fire from the Canadian Taxpayer Federation.

A B.C. minister is disputing allegations from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation that she racked up a pricey transportation bill during a trade mission two years ago.

In June 2023, Finance Minister Brenda Bailey flew to Boston to attend a life sciences event called the BIO International Convention.

At the time, Bailey was the province’s minister of jobs, economic development and innovation.

“We have the fastest growing life sciences sector in Canada,” Bailey said. “Much of that comes from the work that we do on trips like this.”

On Wednesday, Bailey defended the trade mission, as well as what her ministry spent, following a Freedom of Information request from the CTF that found her group spent $6,600 on a limo for four days.

Carson Binda, the B.C. director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said the trip cost more than $44,000.

“It’s unacceptable for a minister to be blowing this kind of money on such frivolous luxuries,” Binda said.

Bailey called the federations’ claims “inaccurate reports,” adding the expenditures are already disclosed.

“The numbers that were reported by the Taxpayers Association were, in fact, quite twisted,” she said.

“This trip was less than half of what they reported. There was no limo. There were six people in an SUV.”

The documents also detail more than $11,000 spent on food and beverage, but the province said on Thursday the figure is inaccurate, and that food and beverage costs totaled less than $5,000, which included a Life Sciences networking dinner, and per diems at the standard rate.

When asked about this, Bailey said she does not get to choose where to eat during these kinds of trips.

“We are part of a group that’s traveling around to different meetings,” she said.

“So it’s not that I had the option to go to a Wendy’s. This is a structured program that we’re meeting with investors, and we go to the places that they are at.”

The criticism comes following the NDP’s projections of a record deficit of $11.6 billion.

“This is a minister that’s literally tasked with finding savings for government,” said Peter Milobar, the B.C. Conservatives’ finance critic.

Milobar added he believes there was a way to avoid the bill, if the ministry had opted for other forms of transportation.

“To see over $1,500 a day being spent on limousine services is simply unacceptable,” he said.

Bailey is adamant the trip was worth taxpayers’ time, and helped to generated hundreds of millions of dollars in investments in the British Columbian economy.

“We’re taking a very careful lens to all travel, but there’s some travel that leads to economic development and revenue,” she said.