15 senators took a $118K trip to Alberta. Some colleagues question its relevance

The initiative was launched by Alberta Sen. Scott Tannas. In May 2024, he sent a message to his colleagues in the upper chamber inviting them on what he called a "familiarization tour" of his province.

The idea was simple, he explained. Many senators were unfamiliar with his part of the country and would benefit from a "come to know" visit to Alberta.

The trip, organized in collaboration with the Alberta government, featured several stops, including a visit to the Calgary Stampede, a meeting with members of the tourism industry in Banff, a day trip to the oilsands and a tour of the province's grain and beef farms.

Fifteen senators chose to participate in the three-day trip last July. Six of them brought staff along and three senators brought their spouses. Taxpayers footed the bill, which is within the rules of the Senate.

The total cost: $118,000, according to data obtained and compiled by Radio-Canada.

Speaking on the condition that they not be named out of fear of reprisals, three senators say they were uneasy about the idea. The senators, who did not attend, criticize the trip's timing but also its relevance. It wasn't linked to specific committee work, and one said it was akin to "a summer team-building trip."

After last year's trip, other senators have organized discovery visits for this summer. One is again planned in Alberta — once again during the Stampede — and another to Churchill, Man.

A review is underway by the Senate Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration (CIBA) to determine whether "familiarization tours in Canada" need to be better supervised.

"[The] steering committee has questions and concerns about the organization of co-ordinated trips by groups of senators ... [with] expenses that differ considerably from the regular use of Senate resources," wrote Sen. Lucie Moncion in a letter to all senators on April 30.

Moncion chairs the CIBA as well as its steering committee on agenda and procedure.

"The steering committee wishes to ensure that public funds continue to be used diligently and prudently," she wrote.

After a closed-door meeting last Thursday, the CIBA asked the Subcommittee on Senate Estimates and Committee Budgets (SEBS) to examine and report on co-ordinated travel by senators, and issue recommendations to better regulate it.

The other source of unease concerns the presence of spouses, whose travel to Alberta was reimbursed by the Senate.

"I'm all for helping senators see their families, and sometimes paying for spouses to travel with us to Ottawa," one senator said. "But it can't be a free pass to pay for a vacation in the Rockies."