Senate speaker spent close to $1M on ‘courtesy calls’ and other foreign travel, Taxpayers Federation finds

King Charles III receives Canada's Speaker of the Senate Raymonde Gagné during an audience at Buckingham Palace on March 12, 2025. Photo by Aaron Chown /Getty Images

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A long-time Canadian Senator who has boasted of being an “avid traveller” spent close to a million dollars of public money on international travel since she was appointed to the role of speaker of the Senate, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) has learned.

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Raymonde Gagné and her entourage billed taxpayers $875,677 across at least 14 international trips since she was appointed speaker of the senate by former prime minister Justin Trudeau in May 2023, according to the financial records. The total cost of Gagné’s international trips is undoubtedly higher because the records do not include costs of her recent trips to Chile, Tunisia and the Netherlands.

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“It’s hard to imagine why an unelected senator should be travelling anywhere outside of the country on taxpayers’ dime, so Gagné billing taxpayers almost $1 million to fly around the world is completely unacceptable,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF’s federal director. “Prime Minister Mark Carney needs to hold Gagné accountable and make sure senators aren’t globetrotting on the taxpayer credit card.”

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The most recent trip for which there was records was a “courtesy call” by Gagné to Horii Iwao, Japan’s state minister for foreign affairs, a visit which lasted about 45 minutes.

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Gagné’s seven-person entourage included fellow senators Fabian Manning, Raymonde Saint-Germain and Duncan Wilson, as well as two parliamentary staff and a person listed as Gagné’s spouse. The trip cost $107,594, of which $92,000 was spent on travel, and another $6,600 on accommodation. The records do not indicate any reimbursements to taxpayers.

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“If Gagné wants to make a courtesy call to a Japanese politician, then she should pick up the phone instead of billing taxpayers six figures,” Terrazzano said. “In what world is it acceptable for an unelected senator to bill taxpayers thousands of dollars for meals and receptions?”

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Another trip to Spain and the United Kingdom in March 2025 included an audience with King Charles III, and cost a total of $105,156, including $77,000 for travel and $13,00 for accommodation. Again, the entourage included three other senators, Gagné’s spouse and two staffers.

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The Canadian delegation at Rotorua Lakes Council, including HW Tania Tapsell, Mayor. Photo by Office of the Clerk

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A 2024 trip by Gagné and seven others to New Zealand for “business calls” in Rotorua, a popular tourist destination, Christchurch and Wellington came to $118,965.

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During the visit, Gagné posed for a photo with the mayor of Rotorua Lakes, an event the CTF likened to “a foreign senator visiting the city hall in Whistler, British Columbia.”

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Other trips by the speaker since her appointment three years ago include Switzerland, France, the United States, Belgium, Brazil, Romania, the Czech Republic and South Africa, as well as travel within Canada.

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Senators are unelected and have no constituency, meaning Gagné isn’t representing any specific Canadian constituency when abroad.

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Said Terrazzano: “If senators aren’t going to represent anyone but themselves then they need to not represent anyone for a lot less money.”