Volpe Takes Taxpayers For A Ride, Or Is It The Other Way Around?

Via Bourque.ca

Liberal Joe Volpe, MP for Eglinton-Lawrence in Toronto, is in trouble again after documents revealed he took a limo ride from Toronto to Buffalo for over $1000 at our expense. This on the heals of his $138 pizza lunch.

Leaked documents detail a 12 1/2-hour trip to the nearby U.S. city last March that included an $850 fare, $127.50 tip and $68.43 in GST for a total cost of $1,045.93.

Another 10 1/2-hour trip to an undisclosed location from Pearson airport cost $522

Let’s see how the average citizen might get to Buffalo.

Option A) Via Rail – Our illustrious rail transit system. A round trip to buffalo costs anywhere from $74 to $88 dollars from my work at ViaRail. Note: you should click “view all stations” over the list to select the Buffalo options as they do not appear in the common stations drop down list. I tried both Buffalo stops and dates from as early as one day away to way out in the end of February and the pricing was, basically, the same.

Option B) Car Rental – I went to National Car Rental’s website for two reasons. One they are a very reputable company, and two, they offer one way drop offs. I priced a one day rental of their most luxurious car for a one way with a drop off in Buffalo, and a second with the return of the vehicle back in Toronto. The one way with drop off cost just under $400 (with taxes) and the round trip was significantly lower at $122.76.

(click to enlarge)

Option C) Helicoptor – ok, maybe the average citizen wouldn’t do this, but I just HAD to price it out. I called a company in Toronto just north of the airport called National Helicoptor Tours and they told me for a four seater helicoptor the going rate is ~$900 an hour which includes fuel and pilot. A one way trip to St. Catherines is about 45 minutes so Buffalo would be roughly an hour is what they told me. This would put the round trip at about $2200-$2500 with tip and down time while at whatever meeting he had in Buffalo.

In any case, I think Volpe took us for a ride. I worked in an executive role for several years and even I rented cars, took cabs, took the train to and from Montreal, and once….just once…was lucky enough to ride in a Lear Jet. It was cheaper for 8 of us to travel in it than to buy 8 round trip tickets to Chicago. But even that trip was well priced out and the best option was taken.

Hey Volpe, you’re just an average Joe put in your position by average Joes. How you spend your MP salary is your business. How you spend our tax dollars is ours.

Eglinton-Lawrence needs to send him a message on January 23rd telling him what they think of his limo rides.