General

Grounded: Ministers forced into steerage class

Cabinet ministers will no longer be allowed to rack up air miles in business class

In this time of global economic instability, there will be no more $3,383 jaunts to New York City—not for Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, or any other minister for the foreseeable future. Under the strict new guidelines for government-funded travel that came out as part of this week’s budget. Cabinet ministers and senior civil servants will no longer be allowed to rack up air miles in business class—at least, not on flights of less than two hours. Instead, they’ll be required to fly economy. The enforced parsimony will also continue once they’ve hit solid ground: the meal expense allowance will be frozen at 2008 levels. That’s still not enough for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, however, which dismisses the attempt at belt-tightening as “ironic, given how much they’re about to add to the debt.”

The Toronto Star

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