It’s hard to be a western MP

Being

re-elected as an MP must be very satisfying, but I wonder when the reality of twice weekly or bi-weekly crosscountry trips, the hours on an airplane, and in airports, sinks in?

It probably comes as a shock for newbies. It is a huge commitment and only the very eager apply. The problem of where you have that one pair of shoes - Prince George or Ottawa - is probably minor. Working long hours, away from home, and then flying so much for four years has got to be exhausting.

This brings me to a concern I heard expressed by a taxpayer during this past campaign, about travel expenses. I am also concerned about the responsible use of taxpayer dollars, so I have spent a bit of time thinking about it. What constitutes responsible practice for our area MPs when it comes to travel? Should seeing our area MP’s names appear at the top of the travel expense list cause us concern?

We need to make sure we think about all the reasons why it happens. I think we should be more concerned if we saw our MPs spend at the low end or near the middle of the list.

Consider that B.C. is the farthest from our national capital. Travelling to and from the capital is going to cost more than if you live in Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec or the Maritimes. To keep our MPs in touch with our region, we want them to return to their ridings frequently, and that costs money.

Another thing to consider is, if we want our voice to be heard more effectively in Ottawa, our MPs need to work on committees. I would expect, like many other committees, that parliamentary committee meetings are frequently rescheduled at the last minute. Last minute changes to a ticket can cost a lot of money. Purchasing a more expensive ticket allows for rebooking at a cheaper overall cost than buying two cheap tickets.

What cost personally, simply because of the distance? Consider how many people you know that live in Prince George, yet most of their work happens ten or eleven hours away. As many logging families know, even having one parent work five or six hours away makes life difficult. So, unless we think public office should only be reserved for single, or older, folk, they have to be able to see their families. In fact, if they are the type who do not care about their families, we probably shouldn’t be electing them.

Someone mentioned the use of business class seats and shouldn’t an MP be travelling economy? In the last five years, I have travelled once or twice per year on the cheapest ticket I could get. Sitting in economy is no fun, but I am willing to do it because that’s what I can afford and I love travelling.

Now imagine flying to and from Ottawa each week or even every two weeks, sitting in the cheap seats. It is not too much to ask healthy family members who travel to see them to fly with cheap seats, but western MPs should be able to fly business class, every time.

Changes to the Parliamentary schedule and the use of technology may be an area to look at to reduce the expense and burden of travel. Moving our capital to Manitoba or Saskatchewan would mean a more even playing field for our Parliamentarians. Or perhaps have a moving Parliament to spread the travel burden? Winters in Vancouver, spring in the Maritimes, summer in the prairies and fall in Ottawa.

However, until changes are made, we have to accept our MPs will be at the top of the travel expense list.