The Golden Pig Awards for Canadian politicians who waste your money in dumb ways

[Shen Li]

Mark Carney billed Canadians $300,000 for his airplane food during his first year in office. 


It's hard to believe anyone could rack up higher travel bills than former prime minister Justin Trudeau.

But...

Prime Minister Mark Carney spent more than $21,000 on airplane food on a three-hour roundtrip to Washington, D.C. in May.

That means Carney and his entourage chewed through $7,000 of airplane food every hour.

And the flight wasn't even during a mealtime. They flew to Washington between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., where Carney and the gang immediately attended a dinner reception. They flew back at 4 p.m. the next day.

A 1.5 hour long flight, about the time it takes to fly from Calgary to Vancouver, is barely enough time to watch a whole movie, let alone chomp through thousands of dollars of food. And they spent $7,000 per hour on airplane food.

Air Canada and WestJet don't bother serving hot food on flights that short because who can't wait a few minutes to get a real meal when they land?

Two weeks after the D.C. trip, Carney went to Italy. The prime minister and his entourage spent nearly $94,000 on airplane food. That's about $5,200 an hour.

For context, that kind of money could cover the grocery bill of about five Canadian families for an entire year.

And you know Carney is wasting too much money on airplane food when he's wasting more money than Trudeau.

Trudeau also went to Italy while he was in office. He spent $43,000 on airplane food in 2024.

[Herman]

[DKG]

Sir John A. Macdonald described the purpose of the Senate as being the home of "sober second thought."

You'd think that means senators need to be sober ... right?

Think again.

Senators billed you for tens of thousands on booze, plus thousands more on fine dining, disco, minigolf and escape rooms.

Individual senators jackassed up their hospitality spending 67 per cent last year. They billed you $116,100 on hospitality in one year.

And that's only half of the bill.

The Senate administration and the Senate's house officers have doubled their hospitality expenses since 2019. The higher-ups charged you $118,000 last year.

As big as the increase in hospitality expenses were, the most damning finding was what senators are billing you for.

The Senate expensed $27,000 on alcohol from the LCBO, the SAQ, wineries and the Beer Store since 2019.

Senators routinely billed you for lavish meals at high-end restaurants.

They spent a combined $20,500 on nine excursions to Le St-Estèphe, an upscale restaurant that serves French cuisine. The venue has a "top-notch wine cellar" and a "lounge [that] welcomes cigar smokers."

Canada's home of "sober second thought" billed you $790 to hire bartenders for a single event.

It even held three disco dance parties that cost a combined $2,100.
 
Senators also spent $645 playing mini-golf and $210 trying to find their way out of an escape room.

And the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is keeping track of the senate's biggest spenders. 

Senator Yvonne Boyer, the senate's biggest individual spender over the last six years, spent $8,000 on "gifts," $340 at the Keg for a "business meeting" with four people and $100 at a wine bar for another "business meeting" with two people.
 
Senator Marilou McPhedran expensed $377 on a single meal at Château Laurier. McPhedran also spent $625 for a "business meeting" with 10 people at an unusual location – the Aga Khan Museum.
 
Senator David Wells spent $550 on multiple trips to Mallard's Cottage, a 300-year-old venue in St. John's that serves delicacies like cod tongues and $16 Brussels sprouts.
 
Senator Mohamed-Iqbal Ravalia spent $1,100 on a single "business meeting" at the India Gate Restaurant that included 20 people. He also spent $260 on flowers.

Senator Bernadette Clement spent $3,300 on gifts alone.
 
Unelected senators also take pay raises every year and receive taxpayer-funded pensions.

A senator's current base salary is $184,800 and will climb to an estimated $193,600 after this year's April 1 pay raise.