CBC News: Wednesday, November 24, 2010 | 3:30 PM ET
Treasury Board President Stockwell Day announced new rules for hospitality expenses for the public service, including a ban on expensing alcohol other than "situations that are necessary for the rules for protocol." "Travel is necessary, hospitality costs are necessary and conferences are necessary, but we want to make sure only the ones that are truly necessary are moving forward," said Day, who announced the changes at a news conference Wednesday. He mentioned recent reports of Auditor General Sheila Fraser, who pointed to a number of incidences where there were significantly large charges for a meal with only a dozen or so people attending. "Nothing was done illegally," said Day. "But too much relaxation has possibly allowed these expenses to happen. And then you wonder if these are the ones she highlighted, are there more?" Now, the purchase of alcohol on the public purse is limited to situations such as those involving diplomats or "appropriate business with outside stakeholders." And the public will be able to see departments' hospitality expenses each year online. While Day said they might not be as detailed as "what type of hamburger they ordered," the disclosure will have more information than what was previously available. As well, all budgets for travel, hospitality and conferences will have to be approved by deputy ministers who will assess whether the trip, lunch or the like is really necessary and will have to personally sign off on the expense. Earlier Wednesday, the NDP released documents it had asked for from the government that showed the government has spent $125 million on hospitality expenses since 2006.
UPDATE: You can now peruse the full set of expense documents in convenient Scribd format courtesy of the NDP:
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