The DFO National Office in Ottawa, ON. Photo: Google Maps
Over the weekend the Conservative Party criticized Liberal candidate Bernadette Jordan for some of her spending whilst serving as Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard.
The criticism comes from Conservative candidate Micahel Barrett (Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes) who issued a statement that takes issue with purchases made by the minister.
Barrett says Jordan spent around $250,000 on furniture and a new car, “Justin Trudeau and his Liberals have a long history of wasting and mismanaging taxpayers’ money. Spending more than $250,000 on office furniture and a new car is completely inappropriate and we are calling on Jordan to repay the money to taxpayers,”.
The Liberals however paint a different picture in the statement they released which said;
“Once again the Conservatives are being misleading. The renovations, which included the Deputy Minister’s office and those of associated staff on the floor, were initiated during the 2019 federal election prior to Ms. Jordan being sworn in as the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard. This includes things such as conference rooms, conferencing equipment, desks, and office chairs. As this was during an election, this was done by the non-partisan public service,”.
The Liberals went on to say spending government money on a car is not unusual for a Federal Minister and is something they are fully entitled to do.
In the Liberal release, they also mentioned that if the conservatives have issues with using taxpayer money for renovations they should consider repaying the $170,000 of government money that has been used to renovate the residence of the leader of the Official Opposition Leader, who at the time of the renovations was Conservative Erin O’Toole.
