TORONTO - Opposition politicians accuse International Trade Minister Sandra Pupatello of living the high life on taxpayers' money, something they say she used to condemn when she was in opposition.
The Conservatives say Pupatello ran up a $128,000 travel bill in just one year, even though in the past she had severely criticized a Tory minister who had spent less than that in two years on the job.
New Democrat Paul Miller says Pupatello spent $50,000 on business-class airfares and stays at luxurious hotels, some of them costing over $700 a night.
Miller says people in Pupatello's home town of Windsor can't even dream of staying at such expensive hotels.
Pupatello says her job is to travel the world trying to drum up business and investments for Ontario, and insists places like Paris and cities in the Middle East are very expensive.
Pupatello also says she has managed to land 25 investment deals that represent 3,000 jobs for Ontario, but the opposition parties say they have seen no evidence to support such a claim.
