One of the Conservative government's appointees to a tiny Crown corporation racked up big expenses during her term — and one of the supervisors who approved a portion of the spending now calls much of it "probably a holiday."
Ann Gray, a freelance land-records researcher from Sarnia, Ont., sat on the board of directors of Blue Water Bridge Canada from 2007 to 2012. Until it was folded into another entity in February, the corporation ran the Canadian half of the international bridge between Sarnia and Port Huron, Mich.
Directors at BWBC, as it's known, served without pay by law. But the company's policies allowed them latitude with their public spending: They could take their spouses on international trips on company business, fly business class, expense alcohol with their meals and bill for entertainment.
A review of Gray's corporate spending — all of it authorized — by CBC's the fifth estate showed she took advantage of those perks.
Her bills included $3.19 for Pringles, $145 for her and her husband to visit a trio of zoos and $172 at a garden decor boutique in San Diego that got expensed as "food."
In an interview last week, Gray said all of her expenses were approved by the company's chairman, and all of it was according to company policy.
"Everything was authorized. The chair didn't have any problems with it," she said.
Filet mignon
The first trip reviewed by the fifth estate was in September 2010. Gray and four other senior BWBC executives headed to San Diego for a transportation conference. Their spouses were authorized to go along as well.
The convention ran from Sept. 12 to 15, but Gray and her husband, Robert, a lawyer, stuck around for three more days.
On Sept. 16, they visited the USS Midway Museum — a showcase of American navy history on a decommissioned postwar aircraft carrier.
The next day, they spent $104 for a trolley tour of the city. That night, they dined on filet mignon, chicken piccata and a bottle of chianti at a restaurant called Lou and Mickey's. Total bill: $213.
The following morning, they headed to the San Diego Zoo.
The receipts for all of it — including the extra days' stay at the Hilton Hotel — were reimbursed by BWBC.
'A bit of a thank you'
Asked why she stayed the extra days and billed for the sightseeing excursions, Gray stressed that the expenses "were all authorized by the chair and they fell within the policy."
She also said it was useful to go early to conferences or stay a few days later, because "there's an opportunity to meet with vendors and suppliers to the industry."
Pressed about why she would stay for three extra days after attending the conference and not just one or two, Gray replied: "I had just spent a week of my free time doing it. It was, potentially, I guess, a bit of a thank you, a recognition for the time that I had committed to the organization."
Gray said she couldn't remember a couple of peculiar purchases from the trip.
She said she had no memory of her husband picking up a $24.50 bottle of amaretto at duty free on his way down to California from Sarnia — he flew separately a few days later — and later expensing it.
And while they were in San Diego, the expense records show they spent $172 at a boutique called Wind Song that sells wind chimes and other garden ornaments, but not food. It was expensed, and paid out, under Ann Gray's meal allowance.
"I don't have any specific knowledge as to what they are," she said.
Berlin and Vienna
The following year, Gray headed with her husband to Berlin for another transportation conference. They arrived four days before the convention began, and again spent time on the extra days on a city bus tour and at the zoo. Their total hotel bill alone came to $3,083.
Two weeks after returning home to southwestern Ontario, Gray was reappointed to the Blue Water Bridge Canada board for another year.
Then in October 2012, it was back to Europe for a congress in Vienna on "intelligent transport systems."
Original Article
Source: CBC
Author: Zach Dubinsky
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