The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is bemoaning the cost of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s vacation to Tofino in August.
“Ordinary Canadians get to go on a big vacation every few years, but this is the third vacation Trudeau took this year and each one cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said federal director Franco Terrazzano.
“If Trudeau skipped just one of these vacations and instead stayed at his taxpayer-funded cottage at Harrington Lake, then he’d save taxpayers what most people make over a couple of years.”
The CTF said Mr. Trudeau spent Aug. 10–18 in Tofino with his family. The Prime Minister’s Office told media the Trudeaus would be paying for their own stay, but the CTF said RCMP security costs alone came to $287,285, and the police force said “additional payments may still be processed.”
That number also does not include potential costs from the Privy Council Office, or the cost of flying there on a government Bombardier Challenger jet.
Mr. Trudeau’s vacations also came up in question period on Oct. 6, when the opposition was questioning the government over grocery prices.
“Canadians can’t eat the photo op that the prime minister took with grocery CEOs,” said Conservative MP Kyle Seeback.
“Grocery prices are way up and they continue to go up, despite these alleged plans and photo ops … will the Prime Minister keep his promise? Or will he just go off another $200,000 vacation at taxpayers’ expense in Montana?”
In his response, MP Ryan Turnbull, parliamentary secretary for Innovation, Science and Industry ignored the comment about vacations, and focused on groceries.
“It must be hard for the leader of the Conservative Party to really empathize with Canadians when surely he doesn’t pay for turkey at Stornoway (opposition leader’s official residence). We know they’re free,” said Mr. Turnbull.
“We’ve demonstrated leadership in this and brought the five largest grocery chains to Ottawa and we are moving forward with them to lower and stabilize food prices for Canadians.”
CBC News reported the cost of the Montana vacation at Easter by Mr. Trudeau was over $228,000. The government initially reported that the cost was over $23,000, but that left out the cost of RCMP security.
In addition, said the CTF, Trudeau’s Christmas trip to a private resort in Jamaica, from Dec. 26, 2022, to Jan. 4, 2023, cost taxpayers $162,000.
“Trudeau’s vacations over the past year cost taxpayers the same amount as a nice family home in the suburbs,” Mr. Terrazzano said. “Most Canadians will be baffled by how expensive Trudeau’s vacations are for taxpayers and rightly demand the government figure out a way to bring these costs down.”
This isn’t the first time Trudeau’s vacations have sparked controversy.
The prime minister’s 2016 Christmas vacation to a private Bahamian island owned by the Aga Khan, which was later found to have violated government ethics rules, cost taxpayers around $271,000.
