Big-spending Oda apologizes
Tory minister repays extra costs of London trip
International Development Minister Bev Oda “unreservedly” apologized on Tuesday for billing taxpayers for bumping herself up from a five-star hotel to a swankier hotel while attending a conference in London, England, last year. That stay included a $16 glass of orange juice.
“The expenses are unacceptable, should never have been charged to taxpayers,” Oda said in response to opposition questions in the House of Commons. “I have repaid the costs associated with changing hotels and I unreservedly apologize.”
Oda opted out of the five-star Grange St. Paul’s Hotel, where her conference was held last June, in favour of the Savoy, a swanky hotel frequented by royalty, on a government-paid trip that cost taxpayers more than her original travel plans.
According to the Canadian Press, the bill for a three-night stay at the Savoy cost $1,995 — $665 a night. Chauffeur service cost $2,850, it said, and there was another $287 to pay for a night at St. Paul’s.
The government announced Monday she was reimbursing some of the additional costs from the June 2011 international conference — held to discuss vaccines and immunization for children in developing countries— after they were uncovered in a media report. Those reimbursed costs included the $16 glass of orange juice.
Oda made no mention of repaying the money she spent hiring a chauffeured limousine during her trip — costs that may not have been incurred had she stayed in the hotel where the conference was held.
Oda’s apology did little to cool the tempers of opposition critics, including Liberal CIDA critic Mark Eyking. He compared Oda to the 18th century queen who sparked the French Revolution.“