BC United on Thursday revealed that after a close examination of BC Conservative Leader John Rustad’s expense reports from the fall of 2023, that he has been taking taxpayer-funded day trips and weekend getaways to Vancouver, and sticking taxpayers with thousands in dollars of bills, despite living in Vanderhoof and working in Victoria.

“It’s clear Rustad prioritizes taxpayer getaways over his legislative duties, as he attended zero out of 27 legislative bill debates and only one out of 25 ministry budget debates in the last session,” BC United added.

Examples of Rustad’s trips include one on November 22, 2023, while working in Victoria, Rustad went to Vancouver for the day, at a taxpayer-funded cost of $1,036.58. Further, Rustad took a weekend getaway to Vancouver from September 28, 2023, to October 1, 2023, at a cost of $3,195.16 – including nearly $200 in valet parking fees, in just three days. Then, on November 9, 2023, Rustad spent a single night in Vancouver and billed the taxpayer $1,492.06.

“British Columbians deserve answers as to why BC Conservative leader John Rustad thinks it’s appropriate to spend $3,200 on a luxury weekend in Vancouver with valet parking, and $1,500 just to spend a single night in Vancouver, when he works in Victoria and lives in Vanderhoof,” said BC United Deputy Campaign Manager, Adam Wilson. “These are not one-time visits to hear the concerns of residents, this is thirteen separate trips to Vancouver, where Rustad does not live or work, primarily over weekends – billed straight to the taxpayer. John Rustad is addicted to the taxpayers subsidizing his Vancouver getaways and day trips.”

BC United also pointed out that Rustad did not participate in any debate on any of the 27 legislative bills introduced in the last session, while BC Conservative MLA, Bruce Banman, participated in two debates. The BC Green Party at the same time, participated in 16 debates, while BC United participated in every debate. At budget estimates, Rustad participated in one debate, while Banman participated in four. The BC Greens participated in 17 budget estimate debates, while BC United participated in all debates. Further, Rustad’s party only brought forward one single bill, while the Green Party brought forward 11 and BC United brought forward 15.

“John Rustad’s party has completely ignored their job – Rustad himself only showed up to at less than 2% of the debates on government bills and business, yet he found the time to spend over $23,000 on getaways to Vancouver in a period of four months,” said Wilson. “If John Rustad won’t show up for work, why should we expect him to show up for British Columbians. If any other British Columbian showed up to their job less than 2% of the time, they would be fired.”

In last year’s travel expense reports (April 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023), John Rustad claimed $4,117 in per diems, nearly 2.5 times than the next most by any MLA.

In a little more than two months (from September 28, 2023, to December 9, 2023), Rustad soaked taxpayers for $23,230.68 for trips to Vancouver, a city he neither works nor lives in. He billed the taxpayer for the following highlighted expenses, amongst others:

• Five weekend getaways to Vancouver totalling $10,781.99.
• Four overnight getaways to Vancouver $6,535.42.
• Three separate day trips (not overnight) to Vancouver totalling $3,336.75.
• Three nights of valet parking in downtown Vancouver totalling $194.97.

BACKGROUNDER

Highlighted Expenses

• Thursday, September 28, 2023 to Sunday, October 1, 2023 trip cost $3,195.16.
  • Weekend trip to Vancouver.
  • $194.97 in valet hotel parking fees for three days.
• Thursday, October 12, 2023 to Sunday October 15, 2023 trip cost $2,761.56.
  • Weekend in Vancouver for John and his spouse, with her flights expensed.
• Saturday, October 21, 2023 to Monday, October 23, 2023 trip cost $1,775.57.
  • Weekend trip to Vancouver.
• Thursday, October 26, 2023 to Friday, October 27, 2023 trip cost $1,493.34.
  • Overnight trip to Vancouver
• Sunday, November 5, 2023 trip cost $1,232.24.
  • Stopped in Vancouver for the day on the way to Victoria.
• Thursday, November 9, 2023 to Friday, November 10, 2023 trip cost $1,465.06.
  • Spent Thursday night in Vancouver.
• Sunday, November 12, 2023 to Wednesday, November 15, 2023 trip cost $2,576.52.
  • Victoria break week spent in Vancouver.
• Wednesday, November 22, 2023 trip cost $962.93
  • Day trip to Vancouver from Victoria
• Friday, November 24, 2023 to Sunday, November 26, 2023 trip cost $1,233.59.
  • Weekend trip to Vancouver
• Tuesday, November 28, 2023 trip cost 1,067.93.
  • Day trip to Vancouver
• Thursday, November 30, 2023 to Friday, December 1, 2023 trip cost $1,318.05.
  • Overnight in Vancouver
• Monday, December 4, 2023 to Tuesday, December 5, 2023 trip cost $2,231.97
  • Overnight in Vancouver
• Thursday, December 7, 2023 to Saturday, December 9, 2023 trip cost $1,816.11
  • Weekend in Vancouver

Did Not Participate in the Debate and Scrutiny of Legislation:

• Rustad did not participate in any debate on any of the 27 bills.
• Banman participated in one Second Reading debate and one Committee stage debate.
• In contrast, Furstenau and Olsen from the BC Greens had significant participation, with 16 interventions at Second Reading debates and 15 interventions at Committee stage debates.

Did Not Participate in the Critical Debate and Scrutiny of Budget Estimates:

• Rustad only participated in 1 out of 25 ministry budget estimates debates.
• Banman only participated in 4 estimates.
• No member of the Rustad party showed up for debates on Finance, Housing, Health, Agriculture, Jobs, Public Safety, and 14 other ministries.
• In contrast, Furstenau and Olsen from the BC Greens had significant participation in 17 ministry budget estimates debates, while independent Walker participated in 20.

Did Not Bring Forward Legislation:

• No bills were introduced by the Rustad party (one bill was denied First Reading).
• In contrast, Furstenau and Olsen from the BC Greens introduced 11 bills, and BC United introduced 15 bills.

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