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: Advertising
From the annual report: “allows Members to communicate with their constituents about their office location and contact information, assistance and services they provide and meeting announcements related to the discharge of their constituency functions, and to issue congratulatory messages or greetings to constituents and opinions or statements in support of their parliamentary functions. The Advertising Expenses Account is limited to 10% of the Member’s Office Budget.”
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: $14,701
Here's the top 20 biggest-spending MPs in this category:
- Yvon Lévesque (BQ) – Abitibi-Baie-James-Nunavik-Eeyou $34,305 (right)
- Roger Gaudet (BQ) – Montcalm $30,812
- Meili Faille (BQ) – Vaudreuil-Soulanges $30,616
- Guy André (BQ) – Berthier-Maskinongé $30,585
- Jim Flaherty (CPC) – Whitby-Oshawa $30,496
- Robert Bouchard (BQ) – Chicoutimi-Le Fjord $30,492
- Steven Blaney (CPC) – Lévis-Bellechasse $30,400
- Jean-Yves Laforest (BQ) – Saint-Maurice-Champlain $30,393
- Denis Lebel (CPC) – Roberval-Lac-Saint-Jean $30,092
- Claude DeBellefeuille (BQ) – Beauharnois-Salaberry $29,989
- Pierre Paquette (BQ) – Joliette $29,983
- André Bellavance (BQ) – Richmond-Arthabaska $29,923
- Raymonde Folco (LPC) – Laval-Les Îles $29,685
- Sylvie Boucher (CPC) – Beauport-Limoilou $29,492
- John Baird (CPC) – Ottawa West-Nepean $29,477
- France Bonsant (BQ) – Compton-Stanstead $29,427
- Mario Laframboise (BQ) – Argenteuil-Papineau-Mirabel $29,258
- Christian Ouellet (BQ) – Brome-Missisquoi $29,233
- Josée Verner (CPC) – Louis-Saint-Laurent $29,229
- Louis Plamondon (BQ) – Bas-Richelieu-Nicolet-Bécancour $29,146
And here's the bottom 20, starting with the MP who spent the least amount in this category:
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- Tony Clement (CPC) – Parry Sound-Muskoka $0 (right, top)
- Jim Karygiannis (LPC) – Scarborough-Agincourt $0 (right, bottom)
- Jason Kenney (CPC) – Calgary Southeast $129
- Paul Szabo (LPC) – Mississauga South $150
- Peter MacKay (CPC) – Central Nova $180
- John Cummins (CPC) – Delta-Richmond East $238
- Stephen Harper (CPC) – Calgary Southwest $280
- Albina Guarnieri (LPC) – Mississauga East-Cooksville $617
- Dan McTeague (LPC) – Pickering-Scarborough East $656
- Jim Abbott (CPC) – Kootenay-Columbia $948
- Charlie Angus (NDP) – Timmins-James Bay $997
- Rick Casson (CPC) – Lethbridge $1,070
- Yasmin Ratansi (LPC) – Don Valley East $1,270
- Rob Anders (CPC) – Calgary West $1,285
- John McKay (LPC) – Scarborough-Guildwood $1,328
- Navdeep Bains (LPC) – Mississauga-Brampton South $1,730
- Dominic LeBlanc (LPC) – Beauséjour $1,742
- Carolyn Bennett (LPC) – St. Paul's $1,752
- Tony Martin (NDP) – Sault Ste. Marie $1,903
- Chuck Strahl (CPC) – Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon $1,931