Saskatchewan’s Opposition NDP handed out a trio of fictional “awards” at the legislature Thursday as a sarcastic jab at the provincial government for its travel spending over the past year.
From April 2023 to April 2024, the Saskatchewan government spent about $423,400 on out-of-province travel, nearly $200,000 of it on international trips, according to publicly released travel expense documents for MLAs. Those totals include travel expenses — like plane tickets, ground travel, accommodation and meals — and expenses associated with hosting business events.
The “Spendies,” as NDP trade and export development critic Aleana Young dubbed the tongue-in-cheek awards, recognized Saskatchewan government MLAs for “wasteful” spending, with some of Young’s announcements accompanied by drum rolls on the lecterns of their colleagues.
“[The Saskatchewan government is] focused on racking up some of the most outrageous travel expenses,” Young said in the legislature on Thursday.
Watch Saskatchewan NDP MLA Aleana Young present fictional awards in the legislature to Premier Scott Moe and various ministers for “wasteful taxpayer-funded travel expenses.”
In March 2024, Energy and Resources Minister Jim Reiter had a four-day trip to Toronto with four other delegates costing $27,631.
Young awarded him the “Lobsterfest” award for a $12,460 expenditure from that trip for business hosting, which could include expenses for lunch or dinner meetings hosted by the government, including food, catering staff, service charges and entertainment.
“What was reported was not just for myself, it was for a number of staff from the ministry who have meetings there,” Reiter said in response.
“My costs for Toronto were, actually, for economy flights and hotel rooms, are actually under $2,000,” he said.
Young also pointed a finger at Premier Scott Moe for his trip to Dubai for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference in December 2023.
The nine-day trip to Dubai for five people cost $32,417 in total travel expenses, but Young tacked on the already hotly-debated government advertising and pavilion space, which cost about $1 million combined.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and other delegates are in Dubai, U.A.E, this week at the COP28 conference. The province has been criticized for spending $765,000 on a pavilion space, along with more money for advertising and travel.
Moe also filed expenses for flights to New Delhi, India, in February 2024 costing $31,390.
The NDP also criticized Crown Investments Corporation Minister Dustin Duncan for his transportation tab around Paris, including the equivalent of $3,500 spent on a shuttle van.
Over the year, the most expensive trips were international, with the exception of Reiter’s trip to Toronto.
In an email, government spokesperson Sam Sasse said that more than 65 per cent of what Saskatchewan produces is exported around the globe. Last calendar year that was $49 billion in exports, Sasse said.
“It’s important that this government advocates for our industry, around the world,” Reiter said.
Trade and Export Development Minister Jeremy Harrison defended the government, saying he’s proud of the international engagement travel has fostered and the export growth that’s followed.
Government officials have pointed to Saskatchewan’s trade relationship with India as a reason for Moe’s travel there.
Saskatchewan’s agriculture and food exports to India in 2023 were valued at $700 million.
Moe also defended his travel to the COP28 conference in Dubai, saying it was an “opportunity for us from not only Saskatchewan, but from Canada, to engage with, you know, about 200 countries around the world on what we’re doing in industries that create wealth in our province and in our nation.”
In an email, a spokesperson for the provincial Ministry of Trade and Export Development said Saskatchewan is the only Canadian province with a trade and investment office in Dubai. They said that office helped export more than $1 billion of goods to the Middle East and North Africa.
They also said the trip to Dubai and the office there led to trade deals with more than $200 million in potential sales and signed letters of intent.
