Wilson-Raybould repaid dinner expense linked to Liberal fundraiser

OTTAWA – Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould reimbursed the public purse for a meal the night she was in Toronto for a Liberal party fundraiser at a private law firm.

CTV News reported Wilson-Raybould had billed her department for three meals and incidentals on April 7, the same day she was the star attraction at an invitation-only Liberal party fundraiser at the Toronto office of Torys LLP, a prominent international business law firm.

The Conservatives at the time accused the Liberals of offering the lawyers access to the attorney general in exchange for donations, but Wilson-Raybould said she had attended the event in her role as a Member of Parliament, not as justice minister.

Her press secretary, Valerie Gervais, says that while per diems for breakfast and lunch had been properly claimed for work Wilson-Raybould was doing as minister in Ottawa that day, $44 for dinner was claimed in error.

Gervais says Wilson-Raybould repaid the money as soon as her office discovered the mistake during a regular review.

The Liberal party said in April that federal conflict of interest and ethics commissioner Mary Dawson had cleared Wilson-Raybould’s appearance at the fundraiser ahead of time.