Expense claims abound with pricey meals, flights
First-class flights, pricey business dinners and a $230 massage are among some of the expenses claimed by former Calgary Health Region CEO Jack Davis, according to newly released documents.
Davis tallied many flights from Calgary to Toronto and Montreal, often ranging from $2,500 to $3,500. Other notable revelations in the 1,287-page release include a $230 Ghandarva massage for Davis’s partner, Joanne Taylor, and a quarterly $428 membership to the Ranchmen’s Club.
An itemized bill from the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel during an October 2006 conference includes $520 worth of service charges such as valet parking, in-room movies and room service, which Davis expensed to the taxpayer. There are also several instances of business dinners or “late night meetings” costing hundreds of dollars.
Some of the documents are redacted — sometimes whole pages — and it’s often unclear which ex- penses were on the public dime.
The Calgary Herald was one of several media outlets that filed Freedom of Information requests several years ago seeking the documents, which were partially released Friday. Davis has fought to prevent the release.
Davis did not return a request for comment Friday afternoon.
The documents are only the first batch of Davis’s expenses, covering roughly 2000 to 2008. Davis is challenging the release of a second collection of his expense records.
Davis was turfed along with 11 other CEOs of regional health boards as they amalgamated to form Alberta Health Services (AHS) in 2009. As part of his contract, Davis received $5.7 million in severance and executive retirement benefits. His annual salary was $1.2 million in 2007.
At the end of Davis’s tenure, the Calgary Health Region was facing a deficit of nearly $100 million.
In a statement, AHS pointed out that the expenses “were incurred and approved prior to the creation of AHS” and that the expenditures “do not reflect current policies and practices at Alberta Health Services.”
Davis is hardly the first provincial health official with a taste for the finer things in life.
AHS dismissed its chief financial officer, Allaudin Merali, in August 2012 following revelations that his expensive tastes had resulted in $350,000 in expenses during his tenure at the former Edmonton health board. AHS later settled a wrongful dismissal lawsuit from Merali, as there were no policies that outlawed his lavish spending.