Gov. Gen. Mary Simon and her delegation to the Middle East spent $1.3 million on hotels, flights, catering, and other travel expenses during the week-long trip in March, according to documents tabled with a House of Commons committee.
The delegation also consisted of Global Affairs Canada (GAC) employees, National Defence Department (DND) officials, and RCMP officers.
Invoices tabled with the House government operations and estimates committee showed that Simon’s office spent around $160,000 on the trip and the RCMP spent around $155,000, while National Defence spent over $470,000 and GAC spent close to $520,000.
“What value are taxpayers getting for this $1.3-million trip to the Middle East,” said Franco Terrazzano, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF), in a Nov. 2 release….