A British Columbia senator spent thousands of taxpayer dollars travelling to a conference where she needed permission to speak and couldn’t vote because Canada isn’t even a member of the organization.

Senator Margo Greenwood billed taxpayers more for international travel than any other senator in B.C. She is the fourth highest-spending senator in Canada.

“Greenwood blew tens of thousands on glitzy trips around the world without any clear benefit for the taxpayers who she stuck with the bill,” said Carson Binda, B.C. Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “Greenwood needs to start measuring her work in terms of value for the taxpayers, not in terms of her air miles.” 

Greenwood spent more than $80,000 on 11 trips abroad between January 2023 and March 2026, according to records obtained by the CTF.

Greenwood’s international travel included France, Belgium, Brazil, Mexico, the United States, Guatemala and Costa Rica.

Greenwood billed taxpayers $34,247 for three trips to Strasbourg, France, over five months in 2025 to attend three sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). 

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

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

Parliament sent four senators and two elected MPs, Stéphane Bergeron and Francesco Sorbara, to the January session. It sent three senators to the April session and three senators and two elected MPs, Lianne Rood and Salma Zahid, to the June session.

Greenwood delivered speeches on Gaza, Indigenous languages, Ukrainian children and the Olympics during the January and June trips, but did not deliver a speech in the assembly during her April trip, according to PACE’s published transcripts.

Greenwood and the delegation billed taxpayers $1,685 for a working lunch for 15 people in January. That works out to about $112 per person. The delegation also billed taxpayers $171 for maple syrup and candies from the Parliamentary Boutique in June. 

Greenwood also billed taxpayers $9,372 to travel to Brasília, Brazil, in 2025, for a gender equality conference. Greenwood moderated a discussion on women in political leadership.

Two elected members of Parliament, Stephanie Kusie and Patricia Lattanzio, were already on the delegation. Parliament sent three unelected senators anyway. The three senators cost taxpayers a combined $30,538.

Greenwood spent another $5,906 on a three-day trip to Costa Rica for a conference on migration, climate change and gender. The delegation included one elected MP, Richard Cannings. Conference records do not identify Greenwood as a speaker, panelist or moderator.

“Greenwood has blown tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars flying to Europe to ‘observe’ meetings that she can live-stream from her office in Ottawa,” Binda said. “Canadians are worried about how they’ll afford groceries while these senators are billing them for unnecessary travel.”

B.C. Senator Yuen Pau Woo billed taxpayers $28,133 across three international trips – including two to Southeast Asia.

He is the second biggest senate-spender from B.C.

Woo spent $12,664 travelling to Laos and $11,987 travelling to Indonesia to attend two annual assemblies of Southeast Asian parliamentarians, organized through the Canada-China Legislative Association. The Parliament of Canada participates as an observer at these assemblies, but is not a member. Only the 10 nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations hold full membership.

Elected MP Terry Sheehan was already on the Indonesia delegation. Parliament sent Woo anyway.

Parliament’s reports describe the objectives of these trips as “networking with parliamentarians” and strengthening Canada’s international presence, but do not identify a concrete benefit to Canadians resulting from the trips.

Senator Mobina Jaffer spent $6,074 travelling to Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic for a five-day parliamentary visit. The eight-person delegation cost taxpayers a total of $65,026. 

She was the third-highest Senate travel spender in B.C.

Jaffer and her entourage spent $3,621 on “working lunches” during the trip, including $1,171 on lunch for 10 people at the Factory Steak & Lobster Restaurant in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Four elected MPs, Richard Cannings, Sukh Dhaliwal, Marc Serré and Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, were already on the delegation. Parliament sent two unelected senators anyway.

B.C. senators billed taxpayers $115,241 for international travel between January 2023 and March 2026, according to the records.

“Senators are billing taxpayers for steak-and-lobster lunches on Caribbean islands,” Binda said. “This travel is a waste of money and senators need to stop going on useless trips where elected MPs are already representing Canada.”