CALGARY — A former Saskatchewan senator charged taxpayers more than $19,000 for three European trips in 2024, including one that took a parliamentary delegation to Estonia on a Sunday when no officials were available to meet, according to records reviewed by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF).Brent Cotter’s travel expenses totalled $19,102 for trips to Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Belgium and Switzerland. The CTF said he billed more for international travel than any other Saskatchewan senator included in the records.“Saskatchewanians have every right to demand value for their money and there’s no value in a senator sightseeing across Europe,” said Gage Haubrich, the CTF’s Prairie director. “Hardworking people who are fighting to afford the basics like food and heating bills in Saskatchewan should not be paying for an unelected Senator to tag along on a tour of Europe.”Cotter’s largest expense was $7,694 for a November 2024 parliamentary mission to Warsaw, Riga and Tallinn. The eight-person delegation, which also included three MPs, cost taxpayers $81,168. That included $3,441 in group hospitality expenses..CTF says Senate speaker Raymonde Gagné racked up nearly $900,000 in international travel costs.The delegation arrived in Tallinn on a Sunday. Its visit report says no officials were available to meet that day, so members toured “important landmarks in the city.”The itinerary also included receptions in Warsaw and Riga, a live-fire demonstration at a military base and a guided museum tour.Cotter billed another $3,870 for NATO parliamentary meetings in Brussels in February 2024. The delegation’s total expenses were $57,629, including a $2,028 dinner for 13 people at a Brussels restaurant — about $156 per person.An October 2024 trip to a parliamentary assembly in Geneva added $7,538 to Cotter’s travel expenses. The delegation’s total bill was $78,046.The CTF said Saskatchewan senators collectively billed taxpayers $23,024 for international travel between January 2023 and March 2026.“It’s pointless travel costs like these that prove the unelected, unaccountable Senate should be abolished because nobody voted for them, they represent nobody and they are still costing taxpayers a fortune,” Haubrich said.“The Senate will cost taxpayers more than $140 million this year. It’s time to abolish the Senate.”Cotter retired from the Senate in December 2024.
