Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken a cavalier approach to governance, having taken 680 “personal” days since 2015.
According to a National Post analysis of Trudeau’s public itineraries, the prime minister took personal days once every four days (24%), excluding election campaigns.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) claims he still works on “personal” days, calling any suggestion to the contrary “false and absurd.”
“The Prime Minister routinely and regularly works on days listed ‘personal’ in the itinerary,” his office said in an emailed statement to the publication. “This can include calls with staff, calls with stakeholders, or briefings with officials.”
WATCH: Pierre Poilievre slams PM Justin Trudeau over vacation paid for by wealthy donors to the Trudeau Foundation. When asked to pay the $80,000 gift back, Trudeau says they’re family friends that he’s known for decades. pic.twitter.com/6Z26bndUCd
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) April 19, 2023
But among the “personal” days are family vacations abroad, including 31 days in Costa Rica, another nine days in Jamaica, and eight days in the Bahamas, where he breached conflict-of-interest rules by visiting Aga Khan’s private island.
Last December, Trudeau expensed at least $162,000 for a week-long family vacation in Jamaica, according to an order paper question posed by Conservative MP Luc Berthold.
As first reported by Rebel News in March, the costs for flights, security and accommodations for staff and the RCMP details assigned to the Trudeau family totaled over $200,000. They stayed at a luxurious estate belonging to a wealthy family friend who donated to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation two years ago.
The PMO did not confirm at the time if Trudeau declared this trip a gift under the Conflict of Interest Act or the code for MPs.
An Easter shindig this year at a Montana ski resort cost taxpayers $228,839, including $204,993 for accommodations, meals, and travel, and an additional $23,846 spent by the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and Privy Council spent on the trip.
SHOCKING: From April 6 to 10, the prime minister stayed in Bozeman, and Big Sky, Montana, costing taxpayers nearly a quarter of a million dollars, reported the CBC. https://t.co/XfipWXc18j
— Rebel News Canada (@RebelNews_CA) October 5, 2023
“I need to be really ruthless to ensure I have time with family, time with Sophie and time to decompress,” he said in a 2015 interview with the CBC, referring to his wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau.
In addition, Trudeau had brief out-of-town getaways, spending 88 days predominantly in B.C., including stays in Tofino, of which include a recent trip from August 10 through 19.
After Trudeau and his estranged wife officially separated, their family enjoyed a round trip to Tofino for a whopping $74,178 — the cost to charter a Royal Canadian Air Force jet.
As reported by BIV, travel costs amounted to $6,340 an hour, in addition to $1,341.69 per passenger. The flight log indicated the prime minister, and his family flew 11.7 hours during the trip.
In a separate report, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) detailed that while the Trudeaus paid for their own stay, the RCMP security costs are at least $287,285, as “additional payments may still be processed.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expensed at least $162,000 for a week-long family vacation in Jamaica last December, according to an order paper question posed by Conservative MP Luc Berthold.https://t.co/QH0ipCcZPA
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) April 19, 2023
However, on two-thirds of those “personal” days (68%), Trudeau spent time within the National Capital Region, including 17 of 365 days in 2016.
The PMO told the National Post it publishes the itineraries “in the spirit of openness and transparency,” which Trudeau’s predecessor did not do, they noted.
“Canada is one of the few countries in the world to provide this level of daily transparency with the leader’s schedule,” said the statement.
