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Taxpayers have forked over hundreds of thousands of dollars so the Ontario ombudsman could commute between Toronto and Ottawa for the past decade.

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André Marin has claimed $206,821.16 in housing expenses for just a fraction of that time — from Oct. 1, 2010, to March 31, 2014, the last date for which his proactive expense disclosure is available. That’s an average of $14,800 a quarter, or $592,000, over the 10 years since he was appointed in 2005.

“I don’t hide that I live in Ottawa,” Marin said. “I tweet about my life, I tweet about my dogs, so I’ve been very open about it and transparent.”

He was first appointed in 2005.

The legislation governing his office states, “(T)he Ombudsman is entitled to be paid reasonable travelling and living expenses while absent from his or her ordinary place of residence” when doing work for his post.

Marin’s expenses show he sometimes spends more than $2,000 a month on accommodation in Toronto, which even in that city’s costly housing market rents a pretty nice place for one person.