Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has been billing thousands of dollars for her use of limousines and taxis to commute around the GTA.
While Freeland has been a staunch advocate for climate change and told Canadians that she didn’t own a car earlier this summer, she has billed $3,040 for limo and taxi transportation, according to access to information documents obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter.
That figure does not include separate trips billed to her official chauffeur, which have accumulated a tab of $6,736.
Freeland billed the expenses for private transportation despite claiming that when it comes to climate change, she is leading by example by not owning a car.
“I think all of us who are in these positions of responsibility need to take a deep breath and ask ourselves what we did today to fight climate change,” testified Freeland at the Senate national finance committee in June.
“What did I do today to be sure that we’re doing the right things for Canada?”
The latest Access to Information report also didn’t include the $3,000 Freeland billed to taxpayers for private transportation while traveling in Scotland from Edinburgh to Glasgow during last year’s COP26 Climate Summit.
Travel between the two cities is accessible by a daily train, which costs $50 for a ticket.
Blacklock’s asked for the numbers following comments made by Freeland in July that she did not own a car and used only carbon-friendly methods while commuting around the Toronto area.
“I right now am an MP from downtown Toronto,” Freeland told reporters last summer. “A fact that still shocks my dad is I don’t actually own a car because I live in downtown Toronto. I am like 300 metres from the nearest subway. I walk, I take the subway. I make my kids walk and ride their bikes and take the subway. It’s actually healthier for our family. I can live that way.”
She later said criticisms to the contrary were “blatant disinformation.”
However, Freeland made no mention of her government-issued car or her frequent use of private chauffeur services in the GTA.
Shortly after those comments Freeland was pulled over while speeding in Alberta and fined for driving 42 km over the legal limit.
