A high-flying movie bureaucrat has been caught in the act through Access to Information & Privacy (ATIP) requests by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.  The request revealed that the top bureaucrat at the National Film Board (NFB) used taxpayers’ money loosely while traveling abroad for purposes that are potentially dubious to begin with.

NFB Commissioner and Chairperson Tom Perlmutter has been globetrotting on the taxpayers’ dime, and not doing so cheaply.

• Monsieur Perlmutter flew to Tokyo, Japan in October 2008 for a chat-fest with that country’s equivalent of the CBC.  Not including hotels, food or any other expenses, the bill for his business class flight alone came to a staggering $11,024.37.

• In February 2008, Perlmutter spent $8,059.82 on a flight to Sao Paulo to meet with Brazil’s Department of Culture and attend the “Cultural Corporation Program Conference”.  While Sao Paulo might be a great party city, taxpayers should not be jumping for joy.    

• In May 2009, Commissioner Perlmutter took a trip with his wife to the French Riviera for the Cannes Film Festival where he spent an astronomical $4,997.61 on 12 nights of hotels and $524.24 on one particularly tasty meal, coming in at $131.06 for every person at dinner that night.  That Monsieur Perlmutter decided to book a studio apartment for the full 12 nights of the festival raised eyebrows to begin with, but questions come to mind as to why it was necessary for he and his wife to book a studio apartment at 416.47 per night, when he stayed for “only” 6.  Even if taxpayers can believe that the studio for Monsieur & Madame Perlmutter were worth 416.47 per night to begin with, the $2,498.81 spent on an empty hotel room for 6 nights is a bit much.

1. The usefulness of having film bureaucrats fly around the world is an issue unto itself, but doing so with such pizzazz leaves taxpayers feeling as though they just joined the Mile High Club in a rather unpleasant way.