Recently released federal expense reports suggest that local Members of Parliament are remarkably thrifty when it comes to billing their constituents.
Abbotsford MP Ed Fast had the lowest overall expenditures of any B.C. MP in the 2012-13 fiscal year. He spent just $335,208, a full $100,000 lower than the provincial average of $435,836.
Randy Kamp, MP for Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission, had the third lowest spending in B.C. at $360,969. He was beat only by Okanagan—Shuswap MP Colin Mayes.
What an MP spends on the required frequent flights between home and Ottawa has a big impact on their overall expenses.
Kamp gets an 'A' for effort for saving a taxpayer dollar.
Last year, he spent $20,882 on his own travel, plus an additional $13,835 on a designated traveller, usually his wife.
That's a 75 per cent reduction over the previous year, when Kamp spent over $200,000 on travel alone.
"As part of an intentional effort to reduce travel expenses, I made fewer trips between the riding and Ottawa, spending more weekends in Ottawa. My wife also made fewer trips," explained Kamp by email.
He has also been purchasing flight passes. The books of tickets significantly reduce flight costs.
To be fair, Kamp explained, the 2012-13 year actually included a few flight credits for trips tallied the year before, but only taken this year.
In 2011-12, Kamp's overall expenses were $494,514. He reigned those in to well under $400,000 for the most recent financial reports.
Fast's travel spending was lower than the average as well. He used $36,801 on his own travel, and an additional $11,623 on a designated traveller.
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