MPs report the summary totals of their expenses once a year. You can review the data yourself [PDF] for the most recent year for which information is available – fiscal 2009, also known as the 12-month period ending on March 31, 2009. This is the only document provided by the Board of Internal Economy, the nine-MP committee that meets in secret to supervise the expenditure of more than $500 million a year associated with the operations of the House of Commons and the Library of Parliament.
What I've done is take the Member's Expenditure's Report and dumped the data in that PDF into a spreadsheet so that I can present some comparisons and analysis. This is one of several posts with some of those summaries and analyses.
Member's Office Budget
From the annual report: “Effective April 1, 2008, the basic annual Member’s Office Budget for all constituencies was $280,500. Members who represent densely populated constituencies receive an Elector Supplement, ranging from $8,570 to $51,370. Members who represent constituencies of 500 square kilometres or more receive a Geographic Supplement, ranging from $4,740 to $52,120. Members who represent constituencies listed in Schedule 3 of the Canada Elections Act receive an additional supplement of $16,580 or $19,900.” The Member's Office Budget is made up of four components: Staff and Other Expenses, Travel, Advertising, and Office Lease.
Because there was a general election in the middle of this fiscal year, not every MP served for the full fiscal year. Among those that did serve the entire 12 months, the average expenditure on MOB-Advertising was: $289,919.
Here's the top 20 biggest-spending MPs in this category:
- Yvon Lévesque (BQ) – Abitibi-Baie-James-Nunavik-Eeyou $356,086 (right)
- Dennis Bevington (NDP) – Western Arctic $352,694
- Charlie Angus (NDP) – Timmins-James Bay $347,726
- Nathan Cullen (NDP) – Skeena-Bulkley Valley $345,020
- Marc Lemay (BQ) – Abitibi-Témiscamingue $343,445
- Jay Hill (CPC) – Prince George-Peace River $332,733
- Gérard Asselin (BQ) – Manicouagan $329,513
- James Lunney (CPC) – Nanaimo-Alberni $321,762
- Meili Faille (BQ) – Vaudreuil-Soulanges $320,679
- Richard Harris (CPC) – Cariboo-Prince George $320,414
- Rob Merrifield (CPC) – Yellowhead $320,346
- Daryl Kramp (CPC) – Prince Edward-Hastings $318,894
- Scott Simms (LPC) – Bonavista-Gander-Grand Falls-Windsor $318,362
- Maurice Vellacott (CPC) – Saskatoon-Wanuskewin $316,645
- David Sweet (CPC) – Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale $316,069
- Mario Laframboise (BQ) – Argenteuil-Papineau-Mirabel $315,276
- Stockwell Day (CPC) – Okanagan-Coquihalla $315,095
- Jean-Yves Laforest (BQ) – Saint-Maurice-Champlain $315,002
- Scott Reid (CPC) – Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington $314,220
- Pierre Paquette (BQ) – Joliette $314,218
And here's the bottom 20, starting with the MP who spent the least amount in this category:
- Stephen Harper (CPC) – Calgary Southwest $189,774
- Colin Mayes (CPC) – Okanagan-Shuswap $219,760
- David Anderson (CPC) – Cypress Hills-Grasslands $223,310
- John Baird (CPC) – Ottawa West-Nepean $227,675
- Derek Lee (LPC) – Scarborough-Rouge River $234,837
- Massimo Pacetti (LPC) – Saint-Léonard-Saint-Michel $236,837
- Ed Fast (CPC) – Abbotsford $242,426
- André Arthur (IND) – Portneuf-Jacques-Cartier $244,416
- Mike Lake (CPC) – Edmonton-Mill Woods-Beaumont $245,388
- Deepak Obhrai (CPC) – Calgary East $248,254
- Peter Van Loan (CPC) – York-Simcoe $249,225
- Yasmin Ratansi (LPC) – Don Valley East $252,871
- Dave MacKenzie (CPC) – Oxford $254,301
- Yvon Godin (NDP) – Acadie-Bathurst $254,721
- Gordon O'Connor (CPC) – Carleton-Mississippi Mills $255,548
- Ujjal Dosanjh (LPC) – Vancouver South $256,237
- James Moore (CPC) – Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam $256,365
- Chuck Strahl (CPC) – Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon $257,925
- Kevin Sorenson (CPC) – Crowfoot $258,234
- Paul Dewar (NDP) – Ottawa Centre $259,991