Canada spent $1.4M sending delegation to COP28 in Dubai: documents

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OTTAWA — Collaborating in a UN local weather change convention final 12 months price Canada practically $1.4 million, based on newly launched paperwork.

The twenty eighth United Nations local weather change convention, also called COP28, happened in Dubai from Nov. 30 till Dec. 12.

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Canada’s delegation consisted of 633 attendees, based on solutions contained inside an order paper query submitted by Conservative MP Andrew Scheer.

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They included federal and provincial politicians, Indigenous and environmental teams, and executives from each authorities businesses and personal firms.

The numbers contained within the paperwork should not closing, as invoices and claims are nonetheless being processed.

The breakdown of the $1,353,307.09 Canada spent to attend COP28 is as follows:

• Transportation: $658,611.50

• Lodging in 21 Dubai inns: $449,597.11

• Meals and incidentals: $241,106.02

• Hospitality: $3,992.56

Whereas the response supplied lists of core and pavilion delegation members, the federal government didn’t disclose how many individuals attended the convention on the taxpayer’s dime.

“The federal authorities coated the prices of federal staff, 4 Indigenous representatives, six youth delegates, six civil society representatives, six Parliamentarians, one Web-Zero Advisory Board member, 5 personal servant Canada pavilion assist workers, and 22 Canada pavilion contributors belonging to underrepresented teams,” the response mentioned, including that funding was supplied for 9 representatives from nationwide Indigenous organizations to attend.

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“Delegates apart from these outlined above had been accountable for their very own journey bills.”

Whereas the response didn’t specify what number of federal staff attended the convention, a assertion from Atmosphere Canada places that quantity at 114.

Amongst them had been Atmosphere Minister Steven Guilbeault, 4 MPs, three senators, scores of deputy ministers and executives from quite a lot of authorities businesses and departments, together with Atmosphere Canada, Transport Canada, Fisheries and Oceans, World Affairs Canada and the Canadian House Company, ministerial staffers, and ambassadors and diplomatic workers.

Additionally attending the convention was Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who introduced an entourage of 18 staffers, deputy ministers and safety element.

The order paper response supplied few particulars on the federal government’s carbon footprint of their COP28 delegation, mentioning that emissions knowledge is maintained via the federal government’s centralized journey reserving service and that such data isn’t tracked in any authorities database.

“This knowledge isn’t disaggregated by particular person and doesn’t consists of ministerial journey, which isn’t booked via the centralized system,” the response mentioned, including that Atmosphere Canada purchases carbon offset credit in bulk quite than particularly for every occasion of journey.

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A complete of 159 resort rooms had been booked throughout 21 properties, with most staying on the Delta Inns by Marriott in Dubai’s Funding Park, simply throughout the freeway from the COP28 venues at Dubai’s Expo Metropolis neighbourhood.

A complete of 171 nights had been booked throughout 40 rooms at that resort, totalling $204,022.03.

Fifty-five rooms had been additionally booked for 15 nights on the close by Premier Inn, racking up a $195,462.12 invoice.

The steadiness of the inns largely noticed only a handful of booked rooms, with 13 on the Amwaj Rotana Jumeirah Seashore Resort, and 10 on the Pullman Dubai Jumeirah Lakes Towers.

Whereas most rooms ranged from $200 to $400 per night time, the costliest room booked was a single night time on the Tryp by Windham Dubai, costing $1,821.90.

An Atmosphere Canada spokesperson confirmed that quantity was a clerical error, and that the cost was for a seven-night keep on the resort, not a single night time.

Franco Terrazzano, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, questioned the environmental stewardship of spending over 1,000,000 {dollars} to facilitate 633 individuals boarding flights to Dubai.

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“Nothing screams preventing local weather change like flying all over the world, burning via jet gas and taxpayers’ money,” he instructed the Nationwide Publish.

“This matches into an even bigger drawback with this authorities the place politicians and bureaucrats are continuously jetting off to fancy conferences and sticking struggling taxpayers with the large invoice.”

Canada’s COP28 invoice got here in a bit beneath what Rideau Corridor spent to ship Governor Basic Mary Simon and 29 passengers for a week-long go to to Dubai and the Center East in 2022 aboard a authorities VIP plane.

Almost $100,000 of that journey’s $1.3 million price ticket went towards in-flight catering prices, with passengers having fun with beef wellington, carpaccio and over $500 for a redacted amount of lemons and limes.

Nationwide Publish

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