We hope to have this fixed soon. The amounts eligible for reimbursement also include moving logistics, administration fees and travel costs. We aim to have all comments reviewed in a timely manner. Still, CTF president Aaron Wudrick gives credit to Gerald Butts and Katie Telford for giving back some of their reimbursements. Sean Kilpatrick/The … UPDATED: Read our community guidelines here. Ms. Purchase would not confirm the names of the two staff members with the highest costs, but The Globe has learned they are Mr. Butts and Ms. Telford. Katie Telford appears as a witness via videoconference during a House of Commons finance committee in Ottawa on July 30, 2020. "For our part, we want to make sure that our friends and families know we followed a policy that has been in place for decades, and will only be reimbursed for the hard costs of our families making the move. 351 King Street East, Suite 1600, Toronto, ON Canada, M5A 0N1, var select={root:".js-sub-pencil",control:".js-sub-pencil-control",open:"o-sub-pencil--open",closed:"o-sub-pencil--closed"},dom={},allowExpand=!0;function pencilInit(o){var e=arguments.length>1&&void 0!==arguments[1]&&arguments[1];select.root=o,dom.root=document.querySelector(select.root),dom.root&&(dom.control=document.querySelector(select.control),dom.control.addEventListener("click",onToggleClicked),setPanelState(e),window.addEventListener("scroll",onWindowScroll),dom.root.removeAttribute("hidden"))}function isPanelOpen(){return dom.root.classList.contains(select.open)}function setPanelState(o){dom.root.classList[o?"add":"remove"](select.open),dom.root.classList[o? There are no ifs, ands, or buts about these expenses. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick). He will repay the amount over and above the average land transfer tax in Ottawa, which brings his total repayment to $41,618.62, Trudeau's spokeswoman said. The chief responsibility of the Prime Minister is to be honest and forthright with Canadians in the House. Trudeau has asked Treasury Board President Scott Brison to create a new policy governing relocation expenses, Butts said in the post. Stay on top of what's happening on the Hill with Rachel Aiello's updates on the minority Parliament when it's in session. At a time of growing skepticism about government, expense scandals are about more than wasted public money. This is a space where subscribers can engage with each other and Globe staff. Gerald Butts and Katie Telford are sporting black eyes after their taxpayer-funded moving expenses became public. Profile: Trudeau's principal secretary Gerald Butts, Profile: The PMO's chief of staff Katie Telford. The pair offered a detailed breakdown of their moving expenses, which totalled $126,669 for Butts and $80,382 for Telford. The Globe and Mail has learned that this extraordinary expense, along with another submitted expense for $80,382.55, covered the moving costs of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s two most loyal aides, principal secretary Gerald Butts and chief of staff Katie Telford. Don Martin, the former host of CTV News Channel's Power Play posts his take on the federal politics issues of the day. Two of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's top aides billed taxpayers more than $200,000 in moving expenses, mostly for legal and real estate fees covering the sale of their million-dollar Toronto homes, The Globe and Mail has learned. The pair offered a detailed breakdown of their moving expenses, which totalled $126,669 for Butts and $80,382 for Telford. © Copyright 2021 The Globe and Mail Inc. All rights reserved. "While the rules were clear and we followed them, we both know that’s not always enough.". CTV News official pollster Nik Nanos gives you the latest political, business and social trends. In total, Telford will pay back $23,373.71 and Butts will pay back $41,618.62. Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s comment community. He also charged more than $18,000 to cover the cost of an apartment in which he lived temporarily. Kate Purchase, the Prime Minister's communications director, defended the expenses, noting the government has had a relocation policy for public servants and ministerial staff since the 1970s. "remove":"add"](select.closed),dom.control.setAttribute("aria-expanded",o)}function onToggleClicked(){var l=!isPanelOpen();setPanelState(l)}function onWindowScroll(){window.requestAnimationFrame(function() {var l=isPanelOpen(),n=0===(document.body.scrollTop||document.documentElement.scrollTop);n||l||!allowExpand?n&&l&&(allowExpand=!0,setPanelState(!1)):(allowExpand=!1,setPanelState(!0))});}pencilInit(".js-sub-pencil",!1); // via darwin-bg var slideIndex = 0; carousel(); function carousel() { var i; var x = document.getElementsByClassName("subs_valueprop"); for (i = 0; i < x.length; i++) { x[i].style.display = "none"; } slideIndex++; if (slideIndex> x.length) { slideIndex = 1; } x[slideIndex - 1].style.display = "block"; setTimeout(carousel, 2500); } //, How do you spend $126,669 to move house? This is a space where subscribers can engage with each other and Globe staff. Telford is repaying $23,373.71 and Butts is repaying $20,799.10 for those "personalized cash payouts." The pair offered a detailed breakdown of their moving expenses, which totalled $126,669 for Butts and $80,382 for Telford. "Some people across government, and in the PMO, moved from rental to rental, others sold their homes and moved their families to Ottawa," Ms. Purchase said in an e-mail. A spokesman for Treasury Board President Scott Brison did not answer questions about whether the policy would be changed. She said the current policy was in place under the previous Conservative government since January of 2011. His failures don't matter when you're friends … Thank you for your patience. The two involved were Chief of Staff Katie Telford … "We know that some people will think that any amount for relocation is unreasonable, and that there never should have been such a policy in the first place," they wrote. Conservative MPs, however, said they didn't allow staff to submit moving bills that high. If you would like to write a letter to the editor, please forward it to [email protected]. Katie Telford testified for nearly two hours at a parliamentary defence committee on Friday that she didn't learn the content of a complaint against Canada's ex-defence chief until it was reported publicly. If you are looking to give feedback on our new site, please send it along to, To view this site properly, enable cookies in your browser. Some information in it may no longer be current. They were both the subject of a minor uproar in 2016 over moving expenses they charged to the federal government when they relocated to Ottawa … The government's relocation policy allows staff moving for work to submit claims for their expenses. The prime minister had earlier refused to say which two staffers in the Prime Minister’s Office had claimed the expenses. Chief of staff Katie Telford and principal secretary Gerry Butts say they aren’t comfortable with the "personalized cash payouts and incidentals" they received as part of the expenses covered by the government when they each moved from Toronto to Ottawa to work for Trudeau. That means: If you do not see your comment posted immediately, it is being reviewed by the moderation team and may appear shortly, generally within an hour. Listen and subscribe to get a weekly update with the newsmakers who matter. One move cost almost $127,000, while the other was more than $80,000, although it's not clear which expenses were associated with which aide. She later served as deputy chief of staff for Liberal leader Stéphane Dion, and worked as a consultant for StrategyCorp in Toronto between her positions with Dion and Trudeau. In the case of the Telford/Silver household, our expenses were: Moving logistics: $10,735.50. The expenses claimed by Butts and Telford broke no rules. Rapid-fire politics: Unpacking the PMO’s moving expenses Is there such thing as a ‘backroom’ figure anymore? In total, five employees at the Prime Minister's Office were paid more than $220,000 to relocate to Ottawa when the Liberals took office last fall, according to documents tabled in the House of Commons this week. Rules for moves are outlined by Treasury Board policy for ministers' offices and a document called the National Joint Council Relocation Directive, which applies to public servants and staffers. The prime minister's chief of staff Katie Telford and principal secretary Gerald Butts posted a joint statement on their Facebook pages Thursday, taking full responsibility for the expenses and apologizing for all the fuss. Canada's Most Trusted News. The Liberals responded that the moving policy was updated in 2008 under the Conservative government. Listen and subscribe to get a daily fix on the latest political news and issues. Katie Telford testified at a parliamentary defence committee today that she didn't learn the content of a complaint against Canada's former top soldier until February when it was reported publicly. Records show Telford sold her house in April for just over $1 million, nearly twice what she and her husband paid in 2008. Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s comment community. Use of this Website assumes acceptance of Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy, Published Thursday, September 22, 2016 5:52PM EDT, Last Updated Friday, September 23, 2016 9:09AM EDT, PMO moving expenses within rules, government says, Liberals accused of 'entitlement' over $1.1M in staff moving expenses, Feds won't ask NACI to scale back public messaging after confusing advice: LeBlanc, 'We did not know what the complaint was about': Telford says of Vance allegation, As MPs urge support, Trudeau demurs on whether government backs COVID-19 waiver, Trudeau fires back at Doug Ford on border closures following attack ad, Feds open portal for employers to access free rapid COVID-19 tests, A year after jobs data leak, StatCan resumes sharing advance numbers with officials, 'I will not be spoken to that way': Fullerton, O'Toole wants Trudeau to fire his chief of staff, CTV QP: 'The system we had in place did not work'. This article was published more than 4 years ago. A check-in on the public mood of Canadians with hosts Michael Stittle and Nik Nanos. Here’s a breakdown of each of their claims: Gerald Butts ($126, 669.56) Readers can also interact with The Globe on Facebook and Twitter . Only the Liberals know, Liberal government paid $220,000 in moving costs for PMO staffers, A rare peek into the expenses of Trudeau’s staff, Due to technical reasons, we have temporarily removed commenting from our articles. ", Justin Trudeau's principal adviser Gerald Butts is seen in Ottawa on Wednesday, April 30, 2014. The allegations have not been proven in court, and the Prime Minister's Office did not respond to a request for comment. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter delving into climate science and life on a changing planet. Chief of staff Katie Telford and principal secretary Gerald Butts say they followed all the rules but don’t feel comfortable about some of the relocation costs to which they were entitled. Read our, I'm a print subscriber, link to my account, Read more about following topics and authors. Butts, Telford apologize for moving costs By Joan Bryden | September 22, 2016 | 2 minutes Trudeau aides gerry Butts and Katie Telford have apologized for their controversial moving expenses. According to the breakdown posted on Butts' Facebook page, Telford received $80,382.55 and Butts received $126,669.56 to cover the cost of their moves. Butts sold his home in July for just under $1 million, netting more than $600,000 since he bought it in 2002. On Thursday, Trudeau's chief of staff, Katie Telford, and principal secretary Gerald Butts apologized for accepting payment for "unreasonable" expenses involved in relocating their families from Toronto — which amounted to a total of $126,669 for Butts and $80,382 for Telford. Follow topics and authors relevant to your reading interests. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s top two staffers are reimbursing some of the expenses they claimed for their moves to Ottawa, they said in a Facebook post Thursday evening. According to the breakdown posted on Butts' Facebook page, Telford received $80,382.55 and Butts received $126,669.56 to cover the cost of their moves. Download the CTV News app now. Public land records show Mr. Butts sold his million-dollar Toronto home for $630,000 more than he paid for it, while Ms. Telford made close to $500,000 on the sale of her $1,005,000 Toronto home earlier this year. There were much smaller moving logistic (i.e moving company) fees associated as well.". Comments that violate our community guidelines will not be posted. "The Prime Minister personally signed off on $220,000 in moving expenses for his own political staff. "I can confirm that our government's practice with respect to moving expenses was very different. From 2004 to 2006, Telford was chief of staff to Ontario Education Minister Gerard Kennedy and headed his campaign in the 2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election. Conservatives have been highly critical of the moving expenses, repeatedly attacking the government this week in Question Period for refusing to divulge details. Principal Secretary Gerald Butts and Chief of Staff Katie Telford will repay costs relating to their move from Toronto to Ottawa. Click here to subscribe. The statement signed by both staffers notes that releasing a moving expenses breakdown for PMO staffers has never been done before. UPDATE: PMO staffers Gerald Butts and Katie Telford issued an apology on Thursday for their respective moving expenses which totalled more than $200,000, and said they would repay some of the costs. Before giving we charity over 900000000 in government money or Reagan and Trudeau's chief of staff, Katie Telford helped raise we charity over $400000 and of course we charity went on to pay Justin's mom over $250000, his brother over $32000 and his wife over $24000 Seamus O'Regan's as Trudeau's worst minister jumping from position to position luckily for him. Gerald Butts and Katie Telford, two of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s trusted advisers, have to repay over $65, 000 in “unreasonable” expenses after the Liberal government approved $207, 052.11 in moving expenses to re-locate them from Toronto to Ottawa. Avoid the use of toxic and offensive language. Gerald Butts, the Prime Minister's principal secretary, and Katie Telford, his chief of staff, were reimbursed for moving their families from Toronto to Ottawa, a source told The Globe. They were infrequently covered at all, and at a much lower level than appears to be the case currently," Rachel Curran, Mr. Harper's former policy director, said in an e-mail Wednesday. The Liberals have been on the defensive for days after it was revealed that two staffers in the Prime Minister’s Office charged $200,000 in moving expenses when they took jobs in Ottawa. In total, the Liberal government spent $1.1-million moving 47 political staffers to Ottawa. Two other employees – at Global Affairs and Innovation – were reimbursed nearly $120,000 and $114,000, respectively, to relocate. Gerald Butts, the Prime Minister's principal secretary, and Katie Telford, his chief of staff, were reimbursed for moving their families from Toronto to Ottawa, a source told The Globe. And they pledged to … They moved to the capital after the Liberal party victory in 2015. Real Estate Commission, fees and employer taxes: $44,149.40 The directive says eligible moving expenses include real estate commissions and legal fees. Telford’s breakdown doesn’t include land transfer taxes because she is renting accommodation in Ottawa rather than purchasing. The government must explain how two top aides to the prime minister spent more than $200,000 of taxpayer money on moving expenses. Non-subscribers can read and sort comments but will not be able to engage with them in any way. Although there is no publicly available information about relocation costs under Stephen Harper's government, one former aide said such expenses were rarely approved. One Conservative source said Mr. Harper's PMO capped moving expenses at $30,000 for chiefs of staff, and under $10,000 for senior aides. The bulk of the money went to real estate fees and, in Butts’ case, to the land transfer tax. PMO chief of staff Katie Telford and principal secretary Gerald Butts have given back a portion of their moving-expense reimbursements that caused controversy last week. We aim to create a safe and valuable space for discussion and debate. Butts says he is also repaying part of the land transfer tax for his new Ottawa home. "In the case of the two larger numbers for the PMO, the vast majority of the costs had to do with real estate and legal fees. Opposition Conservatives have been pushing to find out what exactly she knew of the situation in 2018. They are wrong," Alberta Conservative MP Blaine Calkins said. "The principle we took to these decisions is that we should only be reimbursed the actual cost we paid third parties to make the move happen," they wrote in the post. Trudeau's top aides billed taxpayers more than $200,000 in moving expenses, according to report . They announced that they'll reimburse a combined total of $64,000. 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