In December 2023, Jeremy Hewitt, B.C.’s assistant deputy minister for climate change, travelled to Dubai for the COP 28 Climate Conference.
A freedom of information request by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation uncovered the bill for that six-day stay, which totalled nearly $18,000.
“There are times when bureaucrats and politicians do genuinely need to travel, but when they do, they need to make sure that they’re doing it in a way that’s respectful of taxpayers,” Carson Binda with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation said.
Climate change deputy minister going to climate change conference, in a glitzy oil funded country. $18k for a six day conference is within the realm of reasonableness. Round trip business class tickets for one person YVR - DXB will run you around 10K CAD. Economy is still like 2.5k.
I guess he could save 18k, attend remotely and let Chevron, Shell, bp, and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers do all the handshaking and talking.