Finance Minister Jim Flaherty flight to London, Ont., draws opposition fire
Posted March 9, 2010 7:34 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA — Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is again under fire for using a government jet to fly to London, Ont., for a speech last Friday.
He flew back commercially to Ottawa but the overall cost of flying the Cessna Citation to and from London is estimated at $3,100.
A commercial round-trip flight from Ottawa to London costs about $800 but officials said Flaherty was unable to go commercial because of a tight schedule.
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff accuses the government of hypocrisy, calling the flight a classic example of “do as I say, not as I do.”
Critics said the flight sends the wrong message after a budget that said the federal government will have to rein in spending.