Gordon Campbell's hospitality tab tops other diplomats

Kathleen Harris, Power & Politics, CBC News Posted:Jul 16, 2012

Wining and dining at Canada’s embassies abroad escaped the axe as the federal government grappled with across-the-board cuts in this year’s budget.  Former British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell is racking up the biggest hospitality tab so far this year. In the first five months of 2012, the high commissioner to the United Kingdom has billed $67,026 on dinners, lunches, and cocktail receptions. He's also billed three tuxedo rentals at a cost of $600. Campbell's total tab is nearly three times more than any other ambassador in the same period, according to figures posted online by Foreign Affairs under proactive disclosure rules.

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Correction Update: Gordon Campbell’s hospitality tab clarified, still tops other diplomats By Cassidy Olivier, The ProvinceJuly 17, 2012 5:01 PM

The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade issued a correction Tuesday after posting erroneous information relating to the hospitality expenses of Gordon Campbell, B.C.’s ex-premier and Canada’s current High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. The original figures, released Monday as part of proactive disclosure regulations, had Campbell outspending all other Canadian diplomats three-fold, with total expenses within the first five months of 2012 at around $67,000. DFAIT, however, later changed that figure to $33, 975.26 after it was discovered an unspecified reception, held at the beginning of the year and costing “roughly” $30,000, had incorrectly been added to the High Commissioner’s expense budget. A spokesperson said on background that the cost of the reception – which was attended by an estimated 387 guests — was in fact absorbed by several other departments and one private partner. No other details were provided. “The corrected proactive disclosure now accurately reflects the expenditures from the High Commissioner’s budget,” the DFAIT spokesperson said in an email.