Deputy premier Tom Rideout defended his $53-a-day per-diem spending in an open line radio appearance today, saying the cash was for “meals and incidentals and stuff like that.”
The information he provided, however, was factually inaccurate.
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Contacted by The Telegram, Rideout said he is not disputing Telegram reports that the $53 per diem was specifically for accommodations.
“I’m not disputing that part of it, and I want to make that abundantly clear,” Rideout said Thursday afternoon.
“In the discussion with Randy this morning — I don’t have the transcript in front of me, but I don’t dispute that what you said as a quote is accurate — all I’m saying is what I have said consistently from the beginning: when I went and spoke to the people in the House of Assembly about getting some accommodations in Lewisporte, I was told that, yes, I could do that, and also you can charge the same per-diem rates that you’re charging now.”
According to published spending rules in effect at the time, MHAs had a choice of two options.
They could claim $50 per day for meals without receipts, plus the cost of accommodations — like hotels — with receipts.
Alternatively, they could charge $103 per day for meals and accommodations without receipts.
Rideout generally opted for the latter option. He charged $103 per day — the $53 per diem for accommodations without receipts, plus the $50 per diem for meals.The $53 per day did not cover meals, as he told VOCM.
The other $50, which Rideout claimed in addition to the $53 per day, covered meals.
Rideout made a minimum of 123 per-diem claims from the fiscal period of 2004-05 through 2006-07 alone.
More to follow in the Friday print edition of the Telegram.
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