CTV tabulates the bills for ministerial transportation.
The analysis reveals that the drivers who serve the Public Works and Government Services Minister Rona Ambrose accumulated the most overtime: more than 1,000 hours costing taxpayers $40,074.
Records show that Tony Clement, then Industry Minister, had a driver on standby for more than 360 days that year. The driver charged taxpayers to be on “standby” for Clement virtually every hour outside of his regular shift — 16 hours every weekday and 24 hours on weekends to a total of 6,548 hours in 2010/11. (Standby hours are paid out at 0.5 hours for every four hours on standby).
The hero of fiscal prudence turns out to be Gary Lunn, who, while a minister, apparently opted to walk. This is even more impressive when one considers that, as a relatively shorter person, Mr. Lunn conceivably requires more steps to cover the same amount of ground.
Update 3:47pm. A note from Ms. Ambrose’s office explains that the minister’s driver has recently been classified as exempt staff and no longer receives overtime.