30 MPs accepted $230K in free travel last year, mostly for trips to Taiwan

Peter Zimonjic · CBC News

· Posted: May 29, 2025 5:26 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

Members of Parliament accepted much than $230,000 successful flights, hotels and gifts from overseas governments, advocacy groups and backstage companies past twelvemonth according to an yearly study from the struggle of involvement and morals commissioner.

Konrad von Finckenstein's study connected the sponsored question accepted by MPs for 2024 reveals that 30 MPs accepted trips to locations astir the satellite including Colombia, the Ivory Coast, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, France and Germany.

But much than fractional of the $230,000 successful question accepted by national legislators was paid for by Taiwan, which spent conscionable implicit $126,000 bringing MPs to their country.

The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance connected China (IPAC) separately paid conscionable implicit $11,000 to bring Bloc Québécois MP Yves Perron to Taiwan, and astir $1,400 to bring erstwhile autarkic MP Kevin Vuong to that country. 

IPAC does not judge wealth from governments. Instead it relies connected donations from backstage foundations and organizations that are onside with IPAC's efforts to antagonistic the planetary power of the Chinese Communist Party. 

While the standing orders of the House of Commons prohibit MPs from accepting gifts oregon benefits that could power their activities arsenic national legislators, an objection is made erstwhile it comes to travel. 

The lasting orders accidental that a subordinate tin judge sponsored question implicit $200 erstwhile the resulting travel relates to their job, providing they publically disclose the worth of the travel wrong 60 days of returning home. 

The $230,000 full for 2024 marks a crisp diminution from 2023 erstwhile MPs accepted much than $840,000 successful sponsored travel.

In full the 30 MPs accepted $1,796 successful gifts, $10,417 successful "other" question benefits, $41,144 successful accommodations and $177,369 successful question costs. 

The outgo of question to Taiwan

Of the 38 trips taken by the 30 MPs connected Finckenstein's list, the azygous astir costly travel was a six-day travel to Taiwan taken past May by Liberal MP Judy Sgro. That travel outgo Taiwan's taxpayers a full of $17,172. 

Sgro accepted the astir question of immoderate MP successful 2024. Including Taiwan, and her 2 trips to Paris, Sgro accepted much than $24,000 successful sponsored travel.

The 15 trips to Taiwan marque up a disproportionately ample stock of the wide outgo of sponsored trips due to the fact that of the precocious outgo of airfares.

The worth of sponsored airfares to Taiwan's capital, Taipei, for example, scope successful terms from conscionable nether $6,000 to conscionable implicit $15,000. The lone objection to that was Vuong's $200 proscription costs to Taipei.

Other notable trips see erstwhile Liberal MP Omar Alghabra's travel to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to be a cleanable vigor conference. That travel outgo conscionable implicit $9,000 and was paid for by Ontario Tech University. 

Liberal MP James Maloney accepted an $8,608 travel to Ukraine sponsored by the Yalta European Strategy, an yearly league held successful Ukraine. The league besides paid $6,173 to bring implicit Liberal MP Yvan Baker. 

Former Liberal MP Chandra Arya, who was dropped arsenic the campaigner successful the Ottawa riding of Nepean days earlier the predetermination call, accepted a $5,905 government-sponsored travel to Bangladesh and a $5,742 travel to Côte d'Ivoire paid for by the World Bank.