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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is defending a Christmas vacation he and his family took at the Jamaican estate belonging to a wealthy donor to the foundation that carries his father’s name.
Mr. Trudeau was under fire from opposition leaders Tuesday after Radio-Canada, the French-language arm of the CBC, reported that he vacationed at Prospect, a “luxurious estate” with seaside villas owned by the family of Alexander and Andrew Green.
The Greens made a large donation to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation in 2021 to establish a scholarship in memory of their mother.
The Jamaica trip cost taxpayers roughly $160,000 because of travel-related security and personnel costs.
“The Prime Minister has a right, like anybody else, to go on vacation with his family. And I understand the fact that moving this specific guy comes with a lot of expenses and he doesn’t have a choice,” Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet told a morning news conference on Parliament Hill.
But the BQ leader added the question is whether Mr. Trudeau has to spend his vacation time with a friend providing opulent surroundings at a time when so many Quebeckers and Canadians are facing questions about their capacity to cover their living costs and income supports.
“There’s a lack of consideration and respect for the average citizen.”
Heading into Question Period, Mr. Trudeau noted, in remarks to journalists, that he cleared his trip with the federal ethics commissioner.
He also said his family has been friends with the Green family for 50 years.
The ethics commissioner last December was Mario Dion. Mr. Dion stepped down as ethics commissioner in February.
On Tuesday, Mr. Dion tweeted in regard to the matter, “Gifts from a friend are acceptable from a legal ethical point of view. Public opinion sometimes uses a different test and that is healthy.”
Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, in Question Period, suggested the fiscal policies of Mr. Trudeau and his government are to blame for many Canadians having had to reduce or eliminate their vacation plans, and asked if the Prime Minister paid for his own lodgings.
Mr. Trudeau did not directly answer, but said Mr. Poilievre should support the federal budget, which includes such affordability measures as the grocery rebate.
