Surrey-Fleetwood MLA Dave Hayer, who is supposed to jump ship to federal Conservatives after announcing he won’t be running in the coming provincial election, is short on details about $36,887 in travel expenses, according to the Now newspaper story. Asked repeatedly by the newspaper where he’s been going, Hayer provided no detail but indicated he sees himself as a “provincial” politician whose duties take him outside of Victoria and Surrey-Tynehead.
SURREY – Do the federal Conservatives want a candidate who is living large on a taxpayer’s tab with once again having the highest taxpayer-funded travel expenses of any MLA which also far surpassed those of his fellow local MLAs.
Surrey Liberal backbencher MLA Dave Hayer from Surrey-Tynehead racked up $36,887 in travel costs between April 1 and Dec. 31, 2012.
That’s $11,964 more than runner-up Sue Hammell, NDP MLA for Surrey-Green Timbers, whose total travel costs came in at $24,923.
“I think he’s obliged to answer questions about it. It is public money,” Bruce Ralston, NDP MLA for Surrey-Whalley told the Now newspaper.
Asked repeatedly by the Now where he’s been going, Hayer provided no detail but indicated he sees himself as a “provincial” politician whose duties take him outside of Victoria and Surrey-Tynehead.
“Maybe the only thing they have is in their own riding, right?” Hayer said of his fellow MLAs.
Hayer told the Now his own work is “probably much different than what most other MLAs do.”
When people ask him to attend a meeting, he said, “I attend. Luckily I’ve been very successful helping people out,” Hayer said. “I work very hard.”
Hayer told the Now that all of his travelling was done within B.C. “I don’t go outside the province,” he said.
After Hayer, and then Hammell, Surrey-Newton NDP MLA Harry Bains spent $24,720 on travel, Jagrup Brar (NDP, Surrey-Fleetwood) spent $24,273, Ralston spent $23,248, Gordon Hogg (Liberal, Surrey-White Rock), spent $22,618, Guy Gentner (NDP, Delta North) spent $22,406, Kevin Falcon (Liberal, Surrey-Cloverdale) spent $10,387 and Stephanie Cadieux (Liberal, Surrey-Panorama) spent $3,872.
Of the 39 MLAs who represent ridings from Langley to West Vancouver, Hayer recorded the highest travel expenses between April 1 and Dec. 31, 2012. Of all B.C.’s 85 MLAs, Hayer was the 17th highest spender.
In the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012, Hayer also had the highest travel expenses of our nine local MLAs, at $35,831. In that period, he spent $14,015 more on travel than runner-up Gordon Hogg.
Kevin Falcon, who was no stranger to travel when he held major cabinet posts like transportation and finance, was asked for some insight into why a backbencher MLA’s travel expenses would be consistently higher than his neighbouring MLAs.
“Only Dave would be able to answer that,” Falcon told the Now. “He’s involved in issues that are perhaps unique to Dave.”
Hayer decided quit provincial politics partly due to a fear that he would lose the coming election with the NDP surging in the polls. Hayer, who is largely perceived as an incompetent MLA with no promotions to the cabinet throughout his various terms as MLA, was frustrated after Premier Christy Clark removed him from his Parliamentary Secretary position.
Hayer, who is a former Assistant Publisher of the Indo-Canadian Times, has been a controversial MLA. As a former businessman, he declared a bankruptcy in his hotel business and would have been disqualified as a Liberal candidate only that the bankruptcy took place after he was already an MLA.
