Newfoundland and Labrador Senator David Wells billed taxpayers thousands of dollars to travel to Europe for parliamentary meetings where he submitted written speeches instead of delivering them from the floor.

“Did Wells really need to spend thousands traveling to France to deliver a speech when he could have emailed that speech for free?” said Franco Terrazzano, Federal Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “It’s hard to imagine why an unelected senator should be travelling anywhere outside of the country on taxpayers’ dime, so Wells billing taxpayers six figures to fly around the world is completely unacceptable.”

Wells billed taxpayers more for international travel than any other senator in Newfoundland and Labrador. Wells is the second highest-spending senator in Canada. Only Ontario Senator Salma Ataullahjan spent more than Wells. She billed taxpayers more than $131,000 on trips abroad.

Wells spent $120,389 on 17 international trips, plus $660 in expenses related to a cancelled trip to Sweden, between January 2023 and March 2026, according to records obtained by the CTF. 

Wells travelled to Austria, France, Greece, Turkey, Barbados, Brazil, Portugal, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Wells billed taxpayers $31,148 for four trips to Vienna, Austria. He attended two-day meetings of a European parliamentary assembly and participated in a debate on artificial intelligence in 2024 and sanctions on Russia in 2023.

Parliament also sent multiple elected members of Parliament to each of those first three trips. 

MPs Hedy Fry, John Aldag, Don Davies and Kristina Michaud accompanied Wells in 2023. MPs Fry, Charlie Angus, Luc Berthold and Christine Normandin accompanied Wells in 2024. MPs Fry, Rachel Blaney and Marilène Gill accompanied Wells in 2025. 

Parliament’s 2025 report on the Vienna trip does not identify an active role for Wells. The report for Wells’ 2026 trip has not yet been published.   

Wells also billed taxpayers $16,655 for three trips to Strasbourg, France, to attend the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.  

Canada is not a member of the council. Canadian parliamentarians participate in its assembly as observers, where they can only speak with permission from the president and cannot vote.

PACE sessions are also live-streamed and viewable online from anywhere in the world.

Wells submitted speeches in writing on Ukrainian children and international trade, but did not deliver either from the floor, according to PACE’s published transcripts. 

Parliament also sent elected MPs on all three of Wells’ trips to France. MPs Francesco Sorbara and Stéphane Bergeron attended in April 2023 and April 2024. 

Seven elected MPs attended the June 2024 session: Sorbara, Bergeron, Lianne Rood, Larry Brock, Don Davies, Jennifer O’Connell and Jamie Schmale. The delegation billed taxpayers $1,741 for a “working lunch” for 20 people at Restaurant Bleu. That’s about $87 per person.

Wells also spent $12,055 for a five-day parliamentary trip to Greece. The government has not published a post-trip report explaining what Wells did or what value taxpayers received from Wells’ trip. Four elected MPs, Bardish Chagger, John Barlow, Patrick Bonin and James Maloney, were also on the delegation. The eight-person trip cost taxpayers $104,459.

Wells billed taxpayers $9,983 to travel to Brasília, Brazil, in 2025 for a gender equality conference. He participated in a discussion on equality and spoke about government budgeting and funding. Parliament’s post-trip report does not identify how Wells’ trip to Brazil benefited Canadians.  

Parliament sent three senators on the trip, even though two elected MPs, Stephanie Kusie and Patricia Lattanzio, were already on the delegation.

“Wells needs to start measuring his work in terms of value for taxpayers, not in terms of his air miles,” Terrazzano said. “This travel is a waste of money and senators need to stop going on useless trips where elected MPs are already representing Canada.”

Another senator from Newfoundland and Labrador, Mohamed-Iqbal Ravalia, billed taxpayers $52,058 for five international trips, plus $670 in expenses related to a cancelled trip to Angola. He spent the second most on travel among Newfoundland and Labrador senators.

Ravalia travelled to the U.K., Ireland, Switzerland, Uzbekistan, Austria and Belgium.

Ravalia spent $14,014 on a five-day trip to Uzbekistan for a parliamentary assembly in 2025. He was a panelist for a workshop on women’s health, including menopause. 

Parliament sent five senators to this assembly. No elected MPs went on this trip. The delegation cost taxpayers $99,927. 

Senator Judy White, also from Newfoundland and Labrador, billed taxpayers $25,972 on international travel. She travelled to Romania, Portugal, Belgium and Panama. 

White billed taxpayers $8,731 to attend a five-day parliamentary assembly in Bucharest, Romania, in 2024.

Parliament sent three senators and four elected MPs, Hedy Fry, Pam Damoff, Annie Koutrakis and Kristina Michaud. The parliamentary report does not identify White as a speaker.

Newfoundland and Labrador senators billed taxpayers $198,419 for international travel between January 2023 and March 2026, according to the records.