Opposition parties question Trudeau's winter vacation to Jamaica
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was on the defensive on Tuesday over costs associated with, and the location of, his family's Christmas vacation in Jamaica, with opposition party leaders questioning his judgment and demanding more information about the trip.
While the Prime Minister's Office announced at the time that Trudeau would be taking the weeklong winter holiday, Trudeau's office didn't release where he'd be staying. On Tuesday, Radio-Canada reported that the trip was spent at "a luxurious estate" belonging to a family who two years ago donated to the recently-troubled Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation.
"This prime minister wants us to believe that these Trudeau Foundation donors offered him a $9,000-a-night vacation for nothing. We know nothing is free Mr. Speaker. This is about influence and power for the super rich. So why won't he answer? How much did he pay in accommodation per night at this luxurious villa?" asked Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in the House of Commons.
In response, Trudeau noted that "all the rules were followed" as the trip was pre-cleared with the federal ethics commissioner, stating that the place he stayed belonged to a family that his family has been close with for 50 years.
"The Leader of the Opposition struggles with the concept of friendship鈥 My father was godfather to one of their kids, their father was godfather to one of my brothers," Trudeau said. "If the leader of the Opposition wants to talk about friendships, let's talk about the fact that he's running to his American billionaire tech giants friends to attack the local news that Canadians are relying on."
This was a reference to his endorsement of Twitter's Elon Musk slapping a "government funded media" label on the CBC/Radio Canada's main account just a day before Poilievre repeatedly relied on the organization's reporting to challenge the Liberals in the House.
According to documents tabled in the House of Commons detailing the expenses related to Trudeau, the trip came with an approximate price tag of $162,000. As confirmed by 愛污传媒, the largest cost was for the prime minister's security detail, a requirement any time he travels.
It cost the RCMP more than $115,500 to protect the prime minister and his family 24/7 during this trip, per the force's mandate. The vast majority of this was spent on travel, including accommodations, meals and incidentals.
It is also longstanding government policy that the prime minister travel on government aircraft, whether on official or personal business.
And, while Trudeau did reimburse the equivalent cost of the flights on commercial airfare for himself and his guests, it cost the Royal Canadian Air Force $33,600 to put up and pay for the per diems of the four-person flight crew who flew the Challenger aircraft.
Another $13,500 was spent by the Privy Council Office to "support" Trudeau while he was on vacation, including paying for a staffer to set up secure communications on-site, and other accommodations.
Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet said he wasn't questioning the prime minister's right to go on vacation with his family, but did question the "opulence" of it, the timing, and the ethics of this trip.
"I understand the fact that moving this specific guy comes with a lot of expenses, and he doesn't have a choice. But鈥 while so many Quebecers and Canadians are facing questions about their capacity to pay the mortgage in a few months鈥 There's a lack of consideration and respect for the average citizen in that behaviour," Blanchet told reporters on Parliament Hill on Tuesday morning.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh echoed these questions about Trudeau's judgment about taking this holiday at a time when many Canadians are struggling, in his own press conference.
"I'm not actually touching the ethics concerns here," said Singh. "I think that what this vacation shows is just another example of a prime minister that doesn't understand the realities of everyday Canadians. Hasn't lived those struggles."
Trudeau on Tuesday also sought to once again distance himself from any connections to the Trudeau Foundation, which is facing heavy scrutiny and calls for layers of auditing over a donation with a potential link to the Chinese government.
The prime minister's emphasis on working with the ethics commissioner before taking off comes after Trudeau found himself on the wrong side of federal conflict of interest rules over his Christmas 2016 trip with family and friends to the Aga Khan's private Bahamian island. At the time, the PM vowed to behave "differently" in the future.
In the ethics commissioner role at the time Trudeau would have been planning for this Jamaican getaway was Mario Dion, who retired in February. On Tuesday, he weighed in on the story to say that while "gifts from a friend are acceptable from a legal ethical point of view," sometimes public opinion "uses a different test and that is healthy,"
Coming to the prime minister's defence as the queries kept coming during question period, Government House Leader Mark Holland questioned whether the opposition's personal views about Trudeau were clouding their views about this situation given the ethics commissioner's sign-off and reimbursement.
Holland asked in response to a question from his Conservative counterpart Andrew Scheer, if the one-time prime ministerial hopeful thought future prime ministers should be able to take vacations while in office, and do so with protection.
"And if he does believe that鈥 which is the vast preponderance of these costs鈥攖hen certainly he would see that the actions taken were reasonable," Holland said.
, Canada has "strong bilateral relations" with Jamaica, seeing millions in trade exchanged, and thousands of Canadians visiting the Caribbean island every year.
Though, Canada's urges Canadians to exercise a "high degree of caution" due to the high level of violent crime in the country, and cautions LGBTQ2S+ travellers about the risk of harassment and abuse.
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government鈥檚 three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party鈥檚 popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn鈥檛 be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Police have arrested a Toronto woman in connection with three recent homicides and investigators say that they believe two of the victims may have been 'randomly targeted.'
NDP house leader says House dysfunction will be a factor in future confidence votes
NDP House leader Peter Julian says there's more his party wants to do in Parliament before the next election, but if the current dysfunction continues it will become a factor in how they vote on a confidence measure.
Former Colorado county clerk Tina Peters sentenced to 9 years for voting data scheme
A judge ripped into a Colorado county clerk for her crimes and lies before sentencing her Thursday to nine years behind bars for a data-breach scheme spawned from the rampant false claims about voting machine fraud in the 2020 presidential race.
A teen charged with the murder of another teen on Prince Edward Island last year has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter.
BREAKING
The jury tasked with determining if Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard sexually assaulted a young woman in northeastern Ontario eight years ago began deliberating Friday after nearly two weeks of testimony that saw the singer and his accuser give starkly different accounts of what happened.
BREAKING
A northeastern Ontario jury has started deliberating in Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard's sexual assault trial, we can now tell you what they weren't allowed to hear.
Canadian family stuck in Lebanon anxiously awaits flight options amid Israeli strikes
A Canadian man who is trapped in Lebanon with his family says they are anxiously waiting for seats on a flight out of the country, as a barrage of Israeli airstrikes continues.
Yazidi woman captured by ISIS rescued in Gaza after more than a decade in captivity
A 21-year-old Yazidi woman has been rescued from Gaza where she had been held captive by Hamas for years after being trafficked by ISIS.
Airlines' challenge of Canada's passenger protection rules rejected by Supreme Court
Canada's airlines have failed in their challenge of air passenger protection rules that the federal government implemented in 2019.
Local Spotlight
Chantal Kreviazuk is set to return to Winnipeg to mark a major milestone in her illustrious musical career.
From the beaches of Cannes to the bustling streets of New York City, a new film by a trio of Manitoba directors has toured the international film festival circuit to much pomp and circumstance.
A husband and wife have been on the road trip of a lifetime and have decided to stop in Saskatchewan for the winter.
The grave of a previously unknown Canadian soldier has been identified as a man from Hayfield, Man. who fought in the First World War.
A group of classic car enthusiasts donated hundreds of blankets to nursing homes in Nova Scotia.
Moving into the second week of October, the eastern half of Canada can expect some brisker fall air to break down from the north
What does New Westminster's t蓹m蓹sew虛tx史 Aquatic and Community Centre have in common with a historic 68,000-seat stadium in Beijing, an NFL stadium and the aquatics venue for the Paris Olympics? They've all been named among the world's most beautiful sports venues for 2024.
The last living member of the legendary Vancouver Asahi baseball team, Kaye Kaminishi, died on Saturday, Sept. 28, surrounded by family. He was 102 years old.
New data from Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley shows a surge in supply and drop in demand in the region's historically hot real estate market.