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Bringing about a higher level of transparency and accountability in provincial and federal governments to help protect taxpayers from abuse

Bringing about a higher level of transparency and accountability in provincial and federal governments to help protect taxpayers from abuse.

Global travel, sky-high dining and office massages: Your tax dollars at work

Metro Vancouver is defending controversial expenses on staff massages, a new high-rise cafeteria with mountain and ocean views, and hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on global travel for politicians.

The new expenses come as Metro Vancouver reels from an angry public backlash to a 15-per-cent pay raise and retroactive severance package that Metro politicians voted for themselves last month. That decision is now under review.

Now comes word Metro Vancouver has spent $1.5 million on a 29th-floor cafeteria with stunning skyline views and opened a staff massage clinic on the same floor.

Read more at Vancouver Sun

Trudeau government’s Davos trip cost taxpayers nearly $700,000: documents

The Trudeau government’s trip to this year’s exclusive gathering of global elites in Davos cost taxpayers almost $700,000, with tens of thousands of dollars for pricey accommodations in the swanky Swiss resort, newly released documents show.

The total cost of the three-day trip in January to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland was $678,000, most of that for hotels, office and room rentals and transportation, according to figures recently tabled in Parliament.

Read more at The Globe and Mail

Ontario police officer quits force after three year suspension that cost taxpayers $400K

CHATHAM — Paid to do nothing, a senior Chatham-Kent police officer has quit the force after costing taxpayers nearly $400,000 in pay for the more than three years that he was suspended from the job.

The departure of Sgt. Robert Mugridge, announced Wednesday, comes days before the 29-year veteran of the force is to face the sentencing music in court for fraud and is certain to renew calls for Ontario to hurry up legislation ending its distinction as the only province where officers facing serious charges cannot be suspended without pay. It also comes ahead of a disciplinary hearing where Mugridge faced almost certain termination from the Chatham-Kent force.

Read more at National Post

Opponents grill Ont. Liberals over $200,000 rubber duck

TORONTO — An Ontario government grant of about $120,000 that is going toward a giant rubber duck for Canada 150 celebrations is ruffling some feathers.

The six-storey-tall, 13,600-kilogram yellow duck is being brought to Toronto by the Redpath Waterfront Festival, at a total cost of $200,000, combining other funding such as corporate sponsorship.

It’s being billed as a tourist attraction — with particular Instagram and selfie appeal — and will also be taken to other communities in Ontario.

Read more at ctvnews.ca