One of the more feared aspects to the release of B.C.’s public accounts each year — at least as far as provincial government ministers are concerned — is that tiny volume itemizing each ministry’s credit card charges.
Guess the anxiety finally got the better of them because, last year, the finance ministry decided to post the statements online on a quarterly basis instead, presumably hoping fewer would take notice.
It didn’t seem right not to wait for the annual totals, though.
While the charges themselves are a drop in the bucket of a $44.4-billion budget, sometimes they offer a peek at a ministry’s attitudes or priorities.
In 2014/’15, there were 102,418 purchasing card transactions totalling $45.1 million, up from $41 million the year before.
More than 1,250 transactions were for less than $5, eight of them at 7-Eleven, 27 on iTunes and one at Ogos Ice Cream.
There were 976 purchases over $5,000. The largest? A $92,513 charge to Sensus Communications by the Ministry of Children and Family Development.
In the shred-that-file department, ministries charged $46,078 for shredding documents and that’s on top of the $258,260 they billed to the government’s account with Shred-It.
Top three ministries for shredding fast: the Ministry of Technology, Innovation, and Citizens’ Services at $3,664 which coincidentally oversees B.C.’s access to information legislation; the Ministry of Children and Family Development at $5,821; and the Ministry of Justice at $17,848.
(It is a mystery why the government spends so much money shredding documents when it goes to such great lengths not to create them in the first place.)
Thirteen ministries chipped in $58,697 to help ensure the success of B.C.’s second international conference on LNG.
Over at the Ministry of Children and Family Development, someone is a tad tone deaf politically speaking. A few of the charges that stand out: the Four Seasons Hotel ($1,730), the Empress ($607), the Westin Bear Mountain Resort ($2,543) and Seasons in the Park ($343) — establishments you might expect to see in the charges at International Trade.
Speaking of which, no surprise over some of the charges at International Trade, where five-star is the order of the day. Total tab: $1.18 million. Among the ritzier ones: $3,302 at Singapore’s Fullerton Hotel, $25,907 at Taj Mahal, $37,495 at Millennium Residences in Beijing, and $51,193 at India’s Taj Hotels. There were a few pricey meals, too, including a $2,495 charge at Victoria’s Saaz Restaurant, which is about five times what the ministry charged at Tim Horton’s ($575) over the entire year.
Someone took the bus one day, if that $2.75 charge at TransLink is any indication and someone needed a passport ($160).
Put all the ministries together and they charged $30,528 at golf courses in B.C., $20,386 of it by Children and Family Development.
There is one company that the government should consider billing more with, though: Correct Solutions. The $100,347 it charged last year clearly didn’t buy enough.
