Kamloops two MLAs’ travel spending for ‘accompanying persons’ low in comparison

NEWS — Kamloops MLAs Todd Stone and Terry Lake spent $1,002 and $380 respectively on travel for “accompanying persons” during the last nine months of 2013, a Legislature remuneration report shows.

Those totals are dwarfed by the cost of a single trip by B.C. Legislature speaker Linda Reid’s husband paid for by taxpayers.

Controversy has swirled around Reid this week after a report of her travel expenses was published that showed taxpayers paid about $5,500 for a trip by her husband to South Africa accompanying her to a conference. They went with business-class air tickets.

Reid said today she has repaid the money and apologized. She was earlier criticized for her spending on office renovations.

The remuneration report for April to December shows she used “accompanying person” expenses eight times totalling only $2,130 but analysts say varying timeframes make comparisons difficult. The Vancouver Sun published an interactive graphic Tuesday covering the period April 1 to Sept. 30, 2013 for MLA expenses.

NDP MLA Jenny Kwan took a leave of absence last week after repaying personal costs relating to trips taken by her husband on behalf of a society.

Lake’s total travel bill was $48,000 for the April-December period while Stone’s was $35,648.

Lake was paid $76,743 in basic MLA compensation plus $30,697 in executive salary for a total of $107,440.

His capital city living allowance — paid to MLAs to live in Victoria while doing Legislature work there — was $7,201 for accommodation and $2,150 per diem. He also spent $4,250 for travel in his Kamloops-North Thompson constituency, and $29,953 in general travel.

Lake spent $1,002 in “accompanying person” travel on three trips and $3,605 out of province in his ministerial duties.

During the same period, Stone received $64,744 in basic compensation and $22,883 in executive salary for a total of $87,628. His travel costs broke down into $4,313 capital city accommodation allowance and $1,824 per diem, $2,989 for travel in his Kamloops-South Thompson riding, $26,141 in general travel, and $380 for one trip for an “accompanying person.”