"Through a freedom of information (FOI) request received last week we learned that the Premier spent over $10,000 on luxury items such as paint and carpet for his Corner Brook office," said Mr. Grimes. "Today, through another FOI request, we learn that this government paid $8,000 to Michael Gourley to attend the press conference on January 5^th which was nothing more than a public relations exercise to release the external audit report. If we were truly drowning in debt, would we spend this amount of money to fly people to this province to explain to us how to save money?

"From the correspondence that we have received through the FOI request, all letters and documentation between the Department of Finance and PriceWaterhouseCoopers were sent to local people in St. John’s. Why didn’t government save this money and have a local person discuss the report. Did he think someone from Ontario would have more credibility?

"This morning in a news report Minister Sullivan said that every dollar that can be saved will be a great help in reducing the deficit. I suggest that $10,000 on unnecessary office renovations and an $8,000 public relations trip could help in this effort. It is obvious that the Premier is not leading by example.

"I am very confident that more of these luxury spending items will come to the forefront in the very near future. If the Premier is serious about reducing the deficit and is asking all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to make sacrifices, it is time to stop wasting these valuable dollars on non-essential items."