Speaker of the House of Commons Anthony Rota’s office defended its taxpayer-funded $150,496 formal outing to Australia as an unusual but essential trip.
Mr. Rota was accompanied by seven guests to the 26th Conference of Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth, and spent three days in the city of Canberra in January, as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.
Initiated in 1969, the conference gathers together the speakers and presiding officers of the national parliaments of the independent sovereign states of the Commonwealth.
“Parliamentary cooperation is a pre-requisite for furthering people-to-people contacts and boosting ties among the member states,” Pakistan’s speaker highlighted during the January meeting.
Amélie Crosson, spokesperson for Mr. Rota’s office, said the conference “provides speakers with an opportunity to discuss procedural and administrative challenges.”
“Speaker Rota attended this conference, the first in-person conference since 2020, to deliver a keynote address and participate in discussions on topics such as technology, security, and training,” she added.
Mr. Rota attended alongside his wife, Chantal, while Senate Speaker George Furey, now retired, and his wife Karen were also in attendance. Additionally, four guests, including Charles Robert—a former Commons clerk who had already announced his resignation before the Jan. 3 trip—joined the delegation.
“It is a regular practice for the clerk to accompany the speaker to conferences such as these,” said Ms. Crosson. “Mr. Robert’s participation was planned long before he announced his retirement.”
“It is worth noting he was still clerk until January 13 and an acting successor was not announced,” she said.
Mr. Robert—whose salary was $231,000—billed taxpayers $16,151 for transportation including business class airfare, $3,579 for accommodation throughout the conference, and $1,441 in meal and miscellaneous expenses. He had already announced his resignation in December 2022, following accusations of misconduct. His resignation took effect a week after the conference.
Misconduct
In late 2022, Mr. Robert had become the focus of five formal complaints from senior executives that included accusations of him napping during work hours, providing advance notice to the Liberals about procedural decisions, and applauding the 2019 Liberal electoral victory as good for his career. He denied the allegations.Former Government House Leader Mark Holland spoke with reporters in defence of Mr. Robert.
“I want to really lament the attacks and the smears that are taking place,” he said. “This is a man of extraordinary integrity.”
“I understand the Conservatives have problems over there. I understand that they’re trying to create distractions. But this is not fair ball. This is a public servant and I’m very disturbed about what’s going on.”
The allegations were never subject to a public inquiry. “It involves personnel,” Mr. Rota told the Commons last November. “Most big corporations or private corporations, small companies, do not discuss personnel issues out in public. I honestly feel very strongly about this.”
Members of the Conservative Party sought an investigation of the allegations through the House Affairs Committee.
“I don’t think that, with respect Speaker, shunting this issue into a closed-door committee when there are people who have not had justice is appropriate,” said Calgary MP Michelle Rempel Garner. “I can’t stress this enough.”
The Canberra trip was authorized despite Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s commitment to reducing travel expenditures by “roughly 15 percent” in 2023. “I think those savings are eminently obtainable,” Ms. Freeland said to reporters on March 28. She further emphasized the importance of maintaining fiscal responsibility within government.
In his April 18 testimony before the Senate national finance committee, parliamentary budget officer Yves Giroux derided the pledged travel cuts. “With successive governments having announced reductions in travel expenditures, if we followed all these commitments throughout the years, the Ottawa airport should be closed by now,” he said. “It’s still open.”
“Has the government lost control of its expenditures?” Sen. Clément Gignac asked. “Good point,” replied Mr. Giroux.
“Has the government lost control of its spending? I don’t know if they have lost control, but I can certainly say expenditures are rising at a sustained rate,” said Mr. Giroux. “If you plot this on a graph and look at the trend, over the next three years we see the trend line going in one direction.”
