‘Important for my job’: Finance minister defends $8K flight

Saskatchewan’s finance minister won’t be apologizing and doesn’t feel regretful about the nearly $8,000 round-trip flight she took between Regina and North Battleford.

“What I will do for the people of Saskatchewan, I will work very long hours and I recognize that I will live away from home for the better part as a cabinet minister. What I will not do is drive when I’m exhausted,” Harpauer said Tuesday.

Normally, Harpauer said she will drive to such events, but in this case she said that would have been an incredibly long day and she had other commitments in her constituency — though she didn’t have her agenda with her so she couldn’t say exactly what her schedule looked like.

The flight was two days after the 2022-23 provincial budget was released and Harpauer said she was heading to North Battleford to speak at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon about the budget — part of a tour she does around the province every year when the budget comes out.

Harpauer said these meetings are part of her job as minister and are important.

“Other communities outside of Regina (and) Saskatoon need an opportunity to ask the minister of how the budget impacts those communities,” Harpauer said. “We don’t choose the communities, they make the requests.

“This has been a long-standing tradition that there is a budget tour following the budget … and I don’t think that they should be penalized if they’re farther away from Regina.”

When asked whether she could have just pushed the meeting in North Battleford until she could get there a little more cheaply, Harpauer said there are a number of requests for such events after the budget and it’s hard to schedule all of them.

Harpauer admitted $8,000 is a high cost but believes it was worth it.

“It’s a high price tag but that was something that I had chosen. I didn’t know the price tag at the time but I had asked for a flight for what I feel is important for my job as finance minister following a budget,” she explained.

Harpauer said she would probably still have taken the flight had she known the cost at the time.

The minister couldn’t answer any questions about the flight’s cost, the company that chartered the flight — Good Spirit Air Service, which has a standing offer agreement with the provincial government — or the process, saying her staffer booked it and things like that go through SaskBuilds.

Harpauer said she didn’t have comparisons to know whether the cost was reasonable and that it would be up to SaskBuilds and that minister responsible to figure out if any procedures need to be changed.

Critics and citizens in Saskatchewan are up in arms about the expense, with some calling it an entitlement and others calling for Harpauer to repay the money.

NDP Leader Carla Beck on Monday said the cost, incurred at a time when residents are facing new taxes and fees, showed the government was out of touch with the realities people are facing.

Harpauer believes the reason many people are upset is they believe such expensive travel is something she does all the time.

“I think it’s a little disappointing that we’re fixating on one trip and not the overall travel. The overall travel for myself is very low. I’m not a frequent flyer. I’m not a big spender on travel,” said Harpauer.

The minister said her travel costs for the entirety of 2021 were about $11,000, though she admits it was a bit of an odd year.

Harpauer also pointed to the travel expenses for the NDP when it was in power between 1999 and 2008. NDP cabinet ministers took 248 trips to North Battleford, according to the Saskatchewan Party government executive council.