McKenna reviewing $6K tab for photography
Environment minister’s office hired professional to record climate meeting in France
OTTAWA— Environment Minister Catherine McKenna is under the microscope for her spending after it was revealed she spent $6,600 for photography documenting the COP 21 climate change conference in Paris .
McKenna’s department is now conducting its own review of expenses.
“I think there are ways that we can reduce costs,” McKenna said at an event in Ottawa.
“We need to be mindful of the costs to taxpayers. That’s something we are committed to as a government.”
Documents obtained under the Access to Information Act and made available to The Canadian Press by the Conservatives said McKenna’s department paid close to $11,000 to a French photographer during a Paris climate change conference.
The actual cost was $6,600 dollars, she said, but her office mistakenly converted that to Euros.
McKenna still owes Canadians an apology and a repayment, said Quebec Conservative MP Gérard Deltell.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday the Liberal party “led the way” on proactively disclosing expenses back in 2013, adding that his government will continue to search for “new and more robust ways” of disclosing the use of public dollars.
“We are always willing to discuss and look at new ways of demonstrating the kind of openness and transparency across government that we know Canadians expect,” Trudeau said in Barrie, Ont.