The Sun chain of newspapers, true to type, is trying to stir up outrage with a story that Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn is wasting taxpayer $ on travel. To wit:
Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn used private jets to travel between Ottawa and his riding and sent the bill to the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, which is under his responsibility, documents show. Blackburn spent almost $68,000 for 14 aircraft rentals between April and August this year, records obtained under the Access to Information Act show.
Half of those flights were between the Gatineau airport and Canadian Forces Base Bagotville, Que., near the minister's riding of Jonquiere-Alma, 200 km northeast of Quebec City.
Flight records indicate that Blackburn was the lone passenger on most of the flights. On three occasions, he was accompanied by his press secretary for at least part of the journey.
While the House of Commons was sitting last spring, the minister flew three times to Bagotville from Gatineau on a Friday and returned by the same route the following Monday.
This is otherwise known as weekly trips from Ottawa to your home riding to serve constituent needs from Friday-Monday, which is something MPs are supposed to do. The job is rendered even more difficult for cabinet ministers like Blackburn, who have a lot of additional responsibilities.
I acknowledge that at first glance, this might seem scandalous. But sorry, there aren't many convenient or inexpensive ways to get to Alma from Ottawa. (Or Nunavut -- ask MP Nancy Keratak-Lindell, who regularly tops the annual list of most taxpayer dollars spent on travel.) I have never met Blackburn and have no particular reason to defend him, but I have developed a better understanding of and appreciation for the price of travel to remote Canadian regions in the last few years.
Get over it, folks, it's a huge country and travel isn't easy.
