Canadian MPs spent $14.6M on travel in first half of 2023

Canadian Members of Parliament spent more than $14.6 million of taxpayer dollars on travel in the first six months of 2023, up nearly 10 percent from the previous six months. This amount works out to about $80,000 per day. This taxpayer money is spent on commercial airfare,, ground transportation, accommodation and meals for Members of Parliament and their families and staff. According to the report, from January 1 to June 30, 338 MPs spent an average of $43,000, or more than $7,200 per month, on work and constituency-related travel.Among them were the travel bills of Canada's two main opposition leaders. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre spent about $247,800 in the first six months of 2023 and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh $177,500. Both these leaders are traveling across Canada for the next election.At number five on this list is the Conservatives from Edmonton Mill Woods MP Tim Upple, whose travel expenses during this period were $130,000. His office said in a statement that Uppal, as deputy leader of the Conservatives, has to attend meetings and events in several cities. It should be noted that the publicly available data does not include the expenditure of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Cabinet Ministers.