Senator of the week: Senator Nick Sibbeston - most expensive overall

November 20, 2009

Senator Nick Sibbeston has a tip for Canadian families struggling to cut costs in this recession: don’t bother.

Sibbeston has spent more than any other Senator -- dropping nearly $330,000 on travel and office expenses in the last fiscal year. In fact, the Liberal Senator, incredibly, managed to spend $42,699 more than the average MP did for their office budget in the same period.

And even though travel costs to the Northwest Territories are high, Sibbeston still spent $22,600 more than the average of the MPs who represent the three territorial ridings – all this, presumably to visit the constituency office the Senator doesn’t have and the constituents who never elected him.

Runners-up for the most expensive Senator include Liberals Terry Mercer, Mobina Jaffer, party fundraiser Rod Zimmer as well as Conservative David Tkachuk, all of whom spent more than the average MP’s office budget.

Senator	Political Affiliation	Prov. /Ter.	Appointed by	Travel Expenses (FY 08-09)	Office Expenses (FY 08-09)	Total Expenses (FY 08-09)
Sibbeston, Nick G.	Lib	NWT	Chrétien	190,172	139,770	329,942
Mercer, Terry M.	Lib.	NS	Chrétien	178,427	148,666	327,093
Jaffer, Mobina S.B.	Lib.	BC	Chrétien	173,984	149,189	323,173
Furey, George	Lib.	NL	Chrétien	171,620	148,597	320,217
Watt, Charlie	Lib.	QC	Trudeau	164,695	144,086	308,781
Zimmer, Rod A. A.	Lib.	MB	Martin	153,200	149,245	302,445
Carstairs, Sharon	Lib.	MB	Chrétien	151,758	148,301	300,059
Tkachuk, David	Con.	SK	Mulroney	160,524	125,078	285,602
Day, Joseph A.	Lib.	NB	Chrétien	134,502	148,086	282,588
St. Germain, Gerry	Con.	BC	Mulroney	143,406	135,993	279,399

“Senator of the Week” is a project by New Democrats to highlight the dubious achievements of Canada’s 105 unelected and unaccountable Senators.

Stephen Harper once vowed he “will not name appointed people to the Senate.” Yet as Prime Minister he has broken that promise – 29 times and counting. As a result, Canadians are paying 220 percent more for Senators that Harper once called “a relic of the 19th century.”