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   From: {~_~}@nyet.ca   
      
   | Mar 30, 2014 8:09 pm | iPolitics   
      
   NDP moves to restrict who can travel on government jets   
      
   Photo:   
   Stephen Harper and friend Ken Guarisco attend a baseball game during a   
   private trip to New York City aboard a government Challenger jet in 2011.   
      
   The opposition New Democrats are moving to clip Prime Minister Stephen   
   Harper’s wings – introducing a motion in Parliament that would limit who   
   is allowed to fly on the government’s Challenger jets.   
      
   NDP Ethics Critic Charlie Angus has given notice of a motion that would   
   restrict use of the jets to government business.   
      
   “In the opinion of the House, government planes, and in particular the   
   plane used by the Prime Minister, should only be used for government   
   purposes and should not be used to transport anyone other than those   
   associated with such purpose or those required for the safety and   
   security of the Prime Minister and his family,” the motion reads.   
      
   Speaking in an interview with iPolitics, Angus said he recognizes that   
   security concerns require the prime minister and his family to use the   
   government jets. However he questions it being used by those who aren’t   
   on government business.   
      
   “The real problem we’re seeing is this complete erasing of the line that   
   is supposed to exist between the work of the government and the interest   
   of the party.”   
      
   “There is absolutely no justification for party bagmen to fly on these   
   trips and the party is paying bizarrely low compensation for it,” Angus   
   added.   
      
   Angus’s motion comes after iPolitics revealed that the Conservative   
   party has been saving thousands of dollars by using government   
   Challenger Aircraft for Harper, staff and MPs to travel to party events   
   across the country.   
      
   The Conservative party has reimbursed DND 17 times since April 2006 for   
   a total of $37,272. However, with the cost of flying the Challengers   
   ranging between $2,314 and $3,868 an hour, those flights cost taxpayers   
   more than $118,090.   
      
   Among those who have taken advantage of a ride on the Challengers is   
   Mark Kihn, who is a longtime fundraiser for the Conservative party, a   
   friend of Harper’s and one of the close inner circle of people Stephen   
   Harper consulted when he contemplated running for the leadership of the   
   Canadian Alliance.   
      
   The planes have also been used to ferry friends of Harper’s on private   
   trips with him such as a trip to New York City with Rockcliffe friend   
   Ken Guarisco and their daughters in 2011 to watch Broadway theatre and   
   baseball.   
      
   The government argues the prime minister can’t fly on commercial planes   
   for security reasons. Consequently, Harper reimburses the department of   
   National Defence for the equivalent of a commercial plane ticket when he   
   takes family or friends along on the Challenger on personal trips and   
   the Conservative Party does the same when it is used entirely on party   
   business.   
      
   The Conservative party does not appear to reimburse the government when   
   the trip contains a mix of government and party business such as an   
   announcement followed by a fundraising event.   
      
   The PMO quashed an early attempt by DND in 2006 to bill the Conservative   
   party for the full cost of using Challenger jets for travel to party   
   events, directing that the party and the prime minister would pay the   
   equivalent of an economy ticket on a commercial flight.   
      
   The Conservatives argue that they have reduced the use of the planes by   
   75 per cent and Harper changed the system when he came to power to   
   reimburse for non-governmental use of the plane.   
   However, the prime minister’s office has yet to grant a request by   
   iPolitics for a copy of the rules that govern the use of the government   
   jets.   
      
   Angus, however, says there have to be clearer rules surrounding the planes.   
      
   “The Challenger is being used for more and more party functions which is   
   disturbing. We need to establish some rules around it. There are rules   
   for the use of all other flights. The government has spoken clearly   
   about the use of first class tickets and everything else.”   
      
   “The fact that they set the flights for party use at such absurdly low   
   (prices) and unjustifiable levels shows that they are taking advantage   
   of government resources for party benefit.”   
      
   Angus also questioned what friends of Harper’s have been doing flying   
   with the PM on the government jets for private trips.   
      
   “There is no justification for bringing personal friends on the   
   Challenger. This is supposed to be a jet that is used exclusively for   
   government purposes. If there are meetings that have to be held   
   someplace or if the prime minister and key cabinet ministers maybe have   
   to fly to Europe. That’s what it is meant for. It’s not meant to stop   
   and pick up friends and take them around.”   
      
   “This government has lost its way. They have become so comfortable with   
   power that they believe that these resources belong to them and the   
   party and they don’t.”   
      
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