The federal Conservative Party is asking the Conflicts of Interest and Ethics Commissioner to investigate how staff handled details of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s vacation to Jamaica and his free stay there.
Conservative MP and ethics critic Michael Barrett sent a letter to Konrad von Finkenstein on Tuesday asking if he knew Trudeau was staying at a luxury mansion owned by a family friend. Ta.
Barrett said the vacation was “not the same as staying at a friend’s house” but rather a gift with commercial value.
The Canadian Press has not independently verified a National Post report that Trudeau vacationed at a luxury mansion owned by longtime family friend Peter Green. Greens Her Prospect Her Estate rents villas from her USD 1,100 to her USD 7,000 per night during the holiday season.
“I am aware that those of us in public office have long-standing friendships, and it is not at all unusual for us to stay at a friend’s home during the holidays,” Barrett wrote in the letter. said.
“And I also recognize that as a child of wealth and privilege, Justin Trudeau likely has wealthy and privileged friends.”
Barrett said the fact that Trudeau was given such an expensive vacation “could reasonably be assumed” to have been intended to influence the head of government.
Prime Minister Trudeau’s office declined to comment Wednesday on the Conservatives’ concerns.
“The prime minister and his family were staying at a family friend’s house free of charge,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
This is a slight change from last week, when a spokesperson said the family was not staying with the family, but at a place owned by a family friend.
However, this differed from what the Prime Minister’s Office announced before the trip, which stated that the trip’s expenses would be borne by the family. Last week, shortly before the National Post story was published, Prime Minister Trudeau revealed that he had actually reimbursed the government for the equivalent of the cost of a commercial flight, but that his stay in Jamaica was free.
The PMO said on Wednesday that ethics commissioners were “discussed with them on these details prior to their travel to ensure that regulations were complied with.”
“The Prime Minister will continue to provide refunds for the equivalent of commercial airline tickets for personal and family travel,” the statement said.
Barrett also raised concerns with the Ethics Committee about Trudeau’s staff’s shifting stance on who should pay for the vacation.
Von Finkenstein’s press secretary did not say last week what details the Prime Minister’s Office had provided, but conflict of interest laws require public officials to accept gifts and other benefits from friends and relatives. He said that this was allowed without disclosure. .
In a statement Wednesday, another spokesperson for the comptroller’s office said that the comptroller’s office “does not approve or ‘specifically’ regulate leave,” but that the comptroller’s office “does not approve or ‘specifically’ regulate leave,” but that it has Their sole role is to ensure that gift regulations are complied with.” .
Regarding Barrett’s letter, her spokeswoman Melanie Rushworth said confidentiality rules limit what the agency can say.
