The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on B.C.’s finance minister to explain why she and her team billed taxpayers over $6,500 for luxury limousine services while on a trip to a biotechnology conference in Boston two years ago.

Carson Binda, B.C. Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, condemned the move as out of touch with taxpayers as the province struggles with rising debt.

Go Ad Free

“It’s hard to imagine why Bailey would think it’s appropriate to blow taxpayer money on a luxury limousine service,” he said.

“It’s obscenely out of touch for provincial politicians to be cruising around with a limo service while the government racks up record-breaking amounts of debt," Binda continued.

Brenda Bailey, who was the minister of jobs, economic development and innovation in 2023 during the junket, reportedly dined at high-end steakhouses and seafood restaurants during the trip to Boston.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is reporting that the total cost of the trip for Bailey and the four other staff members was $44,000 for taxpayers.

Bailey appeared to defend the use of taxpayer funds on luxury limo services and extravagant restaurants during a press conference on Wednesday.

“We don’t get to choose where we go to eat on these junkets,” she said, according to Global News.

“We are a part of a group that’s travelling around to different meetings, so it’s not that I had the option to go to a Wendy’s. This is a structured program that we’re meeting with investors and we go the places that they are at,” Bailey continued.

The finance minister reportedly claimed that trips like her junket to Boston are crucial because they bring in tens of millions of dollars of investments into the province.