Tri-City Members of Parliament spent slightly below the average for travel and office expenses compared to their B.C. colleagues last fiscal year, according to recently released documents.
According to the House of Commons' Board of Internal Economy, New Westminster-Coquitlam NDP MP Fin Donnelly spent $455,545 on travel and office expenses while Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam Conservative MP James Moore spent $478,224.
The numbers are consistent with those of most MPs in B.C., who are usually saddled with higher travel costs due to the distance between their home province and Ottawa. Most west coast MPs spent between $450,000 and $550,000, for an average of $491,097, putting the Tri-City representatives just below the middle of the pack for the fiscal year between April 1, 2010 and March 31, 2011.
Moore spent $123,287 on designated travel and $22,187 on accommodations and per diem expenses.
Employees' salaries and service contracts to staff his constituency office cost $172,271 while the lease on the building, office supplies, equipment and telecommunication services totalled just over $68,000.
Moore's office also spent more than $57,000 on printing costs for flyers and mail-outs.
Moore said mail is a key part of the services his office provides. In addition to his newsletter four times a year, "we do a lot of mailing from the constituency office and we send a lot of forms and information -passport applications, grant applications - and the main way people get information from me is through mail-outs," he said.
Meanwhile, Donnelly spent $111,654 on travel and $18,537 on accommodations and per diem expenses.
Employees' salaries and service contracts to staff his Austin Avenue constituency office cost more than $213,017 while the lease and office expenses totalled close to $50,000.
Donnelly also spent more than $25,000 on printing costs for his flyers and mail-outs to constituents.
Donnelly didn't return a call for comment before The Tri-City News' print deadline.
