Expense Claim May 18, 2005 Triangle Ale House

-------- Your tax dollars at work ---------


This is the first in a series of blog postings dealing with the travel expense claims of one staff member of SWSDA, during one fiscal year.

As a result of Justice Hood's decision that SWSDA is a municipal body, I received documents from SWSDA purportedly showing all of the CEO's travel expense claims and receipts for fiscal year 2005/2006. This posting is about but one of many receipts produced and claimed as a business expense by the SWSDA's CEO Mr. Anderson, for Wednesday May 18, 2005.

On May 18, 2005 Mr. Anderson charged the public purse $170.65 for a reported expense at the Triangle Ale House near Hollis and Prince Street in Halifax at nearly 11:00 at night.

It should be noted that this particular "transaction record" provided as a receipt to Mr. Anderson's expense claim for that date is not a receipt but simply a copy of an invoice for $130.65. A receipt would have the tip amount also printed, not handwritten as is the case in the documentation provided by Mr. Anderson.

It is impossible to determine from the document provided by SWSDA:

* if the card presented for payment was Mr. Anderson's,

* what was purchased late on Wednesday night on May 18th, 2005 at the Triangle Ale House at Prince Street near Hollis in Halifax worth $130.65,

* if the handwritten amount for a $40.00 tip (nearly 31%)was actually included in the amount paid.

Moreover, this late evening expense at an Ale House does not identify the purpose of this expenditure of taxpayers' monies. Was the $170.65 for dinner?.... Was it for more than 1 person? .... Was it for drinks alone? .... Why was a $40.00 tip added to this invoice for $130.65? ..... Were other services or benefits provided?

While Mr. Anderson has argued that he can't reveal who he entertains to the public, surely the Mayors and Wardens who sit on the SWSDA Board can and should ask for an accounting of expenses of this type.

In this Province, only the Premier, Ministers and Frank Anderson approve their own expenses. What would justify this expense from the hard-earned core funding provided by taxpayers in the Municipalities in Shelburne and Yarmouth counties and the community of Clare?

SWSDA failed to convince Justice Hood that Mr. Anderson's expenses should be kept confidential and away from prying public eyes. Against the backdrop of this one receipt, other questions arise as I review the 147 pages of documentation provided by SWSDA.

Reviewing provincial travel expense provisions for civil servants and comparing it to this expense claimed by Mr. Anderson should raise even more questions about what is being charged to the public purse. In my view, I would be seeking answers whether I was a voting or non-voting member of the SWSDA Board of Directors..... And, this is but one of many more examples to come!

Keep an eye out for this blog and pass it on to others who are concerned about the use of public monies in this manner. There is much, much more to come.