New Brunswick’s tourism minister has remained defiant in the face of criticism from opposition members who have questioned the benefits of a weeklong trip to Europe that cost the province more than $22,500. Tammy Scott-Wallace faced almost two days of questioning this week in the legislature about her time overseas. “My conscience is clear when it comes to my expenses around these trips,” she said during a session of the legislature committee on budget estimates.
Scott-Wallace and her deputy, Yennah Hurley, along with two other staff members, travelled to the United Kingdom and France from Sept. 8 to 15. They visited Stonehenge, the British Museum, Windsor Castle and the Palace of Versailles, among other sites.
The Progressive Conservative minister billed the government $10,199 for the trip, and her deputy submitted receipts worth $12,328. Hurley’s receipts show $3,230 for her stay at the Trafalgar St. James hotel in London, and $2,286 for her accommodations at Hotel Lumen in Paris.
The luxury hotel London charges more than $1,000 per night; Hotel Lumen, boasting a location in the “heart of Paris,” costs more than $600 per night. She also billed $560 for Eurostar train tickets, $24 for a tour of the British Museum and $92 for a ride on the London Eye — a ferris wheel that overlooks the River Thames. Scott-Wallace’s trips were described on the expense report as “Tourism Mission — Europe.
” Isabelle Thériault, the Liberals’ tourism critic, called the tr.