Running local member of Parliament Brent Rathgeber's office and shuttling him back and forth from Ottawa cost $521,800 last year according to reports released this week.
The annual disclosure of member expenses was put online this week at www.parl.gc.ca and contains information about how the 308 MPs spent their office budgets including funding for staff, office supplies, travel and printing.
The report covers the timeframe between April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010.
The budgets for all MPs added up to $142,606,96, which when divided by the 308 members of the House of Commons works out to an average of $463,009, but varies considerably depending on the distance the riding is from Ottawa.
The biggest line item on Rathgeber's disclosure is staff, which cost $209,511.53, followed by travel at $100,314.34. His accommodations and per diem cost $18,621.87
Rathgeber said his staff includes four full-time workers and one part-time student in Ottawa.
He spent $23,408 on advertising, $34,682.40 on his local riding office and $9,323 on hospitality.
Rathgeber said he believes his expenses are in line with what is reasonable for an MP in this part of the country.
He said it is important to have a well-staffed constituency office to respond to resident concerns and issues effectively.
The constituency office receives 100 emails per day, Rathgeber estimates and said those have to be acknowledged.
"They expect answers and they are entitled to answers, but of course that requires staff to handle that volume of email enquiries on any given day."
Ten-per-centers
Rathgeber spent $20,319.24 on his householders, which are sent to all residents of the riding as well $38,841.20 on 10-per-centers that are largely sent outside the riding.
The controversial mailings have been used by all parties for years and can be sent outside of a member's riding at taxpayers' expense.
A House of Commons' committee severely curtailed the mailings this year and members can no longer send them outside of their own ridings.
Rathgeber said he sent the mailings to several ridings in the Greater Toronto Area, highlighting the government's crime agenda.
"The advantage is to get some perspective on issues that are different than what the local member might be putting out in their ridings.
He also concedes however, that many of them walked the line very closely to blatant political advertising and it was time for them to go.
"The limits have been pushed on some of those rules and some of them have been overtly partisan."
He said the government's message has plenty of other outlets to reach people, even where there are not government MPs.
"It is not like people in the Greater Toronto Area don't have access to newspapers or 24-hour news channels. I understand those all exist there."
