Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is facing major criticism from opposition leaders over his vacation to Jamaica during the winter holidays.
The trip resulted in a hefty bill and sparked disagreements even among Trudeau’s own staff.
With security and staff in tow, the cost to taxpayers for the 10-day holiday to a waterfront villa is coming in at at least $160,000.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) says it got approval from the ethics commissioner, adding Trudeau reimbursed the commercial value of his flight down with his family.
However, opposition leaders point out the timing of the trip, noting it came as Canadians were struggling with a cost of living crisis.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says Trudeau is out of touch.
“It’s just another example of a prime minister that doesn’t understand the realities of everyday Canadians, hasn’t lived those struggles,” he said.
Both Singh and Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet claim the problem is more the lack of respect for struggling Canadians than the cost of the trip.
“There’s a lack of consideration and respect for the average citizen,” Blanchet said.
However, University of Toronto political scientist Nelson Wiseman is dismissing the controversy, saying this is the type of vacation you’d see from other world leaders, and it’s not like the prime minister should stay at a Holiday Inn.
“Most of the cost is security, it’s the RCMP. That’s the demand we make in terms of security for our political leader,” Wiseman explained.
Radio-Canada reports there were discussions and disagreements within the PMO about the optics of a trip like this, with some wondering why the prime minister would give the opposition this kind of political ammunition.
The resort the Trudeau family vacationed at is owned by Peter Green, who has been a close friend of the family since the 1970s.
Green’s family also donated to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, which is facing controversy over a separate donation linked to political interference attempts by the Chinese government.
Meanwhile, the now-former ethics commissioner who would have approved this trip, Mario Dion, has taken to Twitter, saying, “Gifts from a friend are acceptable from a legal ethical point of view. Public opinion sometimes uses a different test and that is healthy.”
This isn’t the first vacation controversy for Trudeau. In 2015, he breached ethics rules when his family stayed at the private island of the Aga Khan.
