The stay in luxury hotels during an undisclosed trip to London and Paris and the personal transfer from Kesbapmisis to Fredericton, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Jeena Hurley, and former Prime Minister Blaine Higgs's advisor, collected expenses amounting to $77,710 during the year 2023.

This is the largest amount claimed by a senior official in the New Brunswick government this year, including the Premier and ministers, according to online departmental expense reports.

New Brunswick publishes information about the expenses paid to ministers and senior government officials every three months for travel, living expenses, car allowances, accommodation, and other costs.

It describes it as an "effort to improve transparency and accountability and enhance proactive disclosure of information."

In 2023, the largest amount claimed by an elected official for the calendar year was $52,522 by Higgs. This included spending $10,999 on a trip to Europe last May, highlighted by Higgs's speech at the Global Hydrogen Summit in the Netherlands.

However, Hurley overshadowed the Premier's claims, as her expense claims increased by nearly 50 percent.

Hurley is a former small adventure business operator and travel blogger and has served as Deputy Minister of Tourism in New Brunswick since 2020.

She was appointed in 2019 under a two-year consulting contract by Higgs to work in the Department of Tourism and report directly to him on changes that could be made.

One of the changes that came quickly was the dismissal of the former deputy minister, Francine Roy, a month after Hurley started working. Ten months later, Hurley got Roy's old job.

Higgs said in the legislative assembly in 2019 in defense of Hurley's initial appointment: "I’m proud that she is working with the people in the department."

"I’m proud that she is working with the minister because we will get things done by thinking differently. I'm proud she's part of the team."

The reports show that in 2023, Hurley made several trips on government missions both within Canada and abroad.

The expense reports contain little information about the purpose of the trips, and Hurley was not available for an interview. However, her reports indicate that $21,488 was spent on hotels in multiple locations, including Banff, Quebec City, and North Carolina.

According to information provided by the province, the most expensive trip, the eight-day visit to Europe last September, was an attempt to increase international tourism interest in New Brunswick.

It was also said that the aim was to gather information about tourist sites recognized by UNESCO.

Bruce Macfarlane, Senior Director of Media Relations in New Brunswick, wrote in response to a request for information about the trip: "The purpose of the mission was to discuss opportunities with international tour operators for visits to New Brunswick."

"The mission also included site visits and meetings with UNESCO properties and museums for four nights in London and a four-night stay in Paris."

Four representatives from the Department of Tourism traveled to Europe, according to Macfarlane, including Hurley and Minister Tammy Scott-Wallace.

The group stayed at Trafalgar St. James Hotel, one of London's hotels, before eventually moving to Hotel Lumin in Paris.

According to the prices posted online and the expense reports submitted by both Scott-Wallace and Hurley, the hotels charge approximately $800 and $600 per night respectively.

Hurley's expenses also included receipts for visits to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, an unspecified British museum, the London Eye, and Versailles.

It appears that there were no specific fees for business meetings during the eight days by either the minister or the deputy minister. Hurley's total expenses ultimately reached $12,328, while Scott-Wallace billed $10,199.

Isabelle Thériault, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Opposition and Tourism Critic, said she was surprised when she heard about the trip.

Coincidentally last September, the Department of Tourism was before the legislative Public Accounts Committee two weeks after Hurley's return from Paris, and Thériault questioned her about the efforts the department was making to promote New Brunswick in Europe.

The trip was never mentioned.

Thériault said, "Had I known, I would have asked questions about it."

"If they had just returned from those areas in Europe, why didn’t they say to me: We went there to work on how to attract people from those areas, but they chose not to disclose."

Hurley's largest expenses in 2023 were not travel-related. After returning from Europe, she sold her home in Kesbapmisis and moved to Fredericton, thus ending four years of commuting.

This move cost taxpayers an additional $19,321.17 in transportation costs.

This included a $15,000 real estate commission on the house Hurley sold, $3,550.67 for movers, and $770.50 for legal fees.

According to the relocation policy followed by the Government of New Brunswick, employee relocation expenses are allowed at the discretion of the Deputy Minister of Management "in the case of an employee’s relocation."

Hurley was not relocated to a new job and did not incur any loss from the sale of her house, which sometimes increases relocation costs.

Property records show that the house sold last October for $405,000, significantly above the listed asking price of $324,900.

However, Macfarlane stated that it was determined that Hurley was indeed eligible to cover the moving expenses and confirmed that she did not approve her own claim, refusing to say who did.

Macfarlane wrote: "As outlined in the relocation policy, a vice president cannot in any way approve their own moving expenses."

"Another person approved the moving expenses within the policy guidelines. While we cannot comment on specific cases, relocation expenses fall within the policy."