Ethics committee considering probe into Justin Trudeau and his $84,000 vacation to Jamaica
The federal ethics committee will meet this week to discuss a possible probe into a recent vacation Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family took to Jamaica over the holidays, which family friends covered.
As first reported by the National Post, Trudeau and his family stayed at a resort in Jamaica owned by wealthy businessman Peter Green, who provided them with accommodations at no cost at his private oceanfront luxury compound that usually rents for $9,300 per night.
A nine-day stay may have cost Trudeau an estimated $84,000 if he paid out of pocket.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) initially said in early December that the prime minister and his family would pay for their stay.
But in an updated statement on January 4, the PMO confirmed to Daily Hive that the Trudeaus “were staying with family friends at no cost.”
“As per standard practice, the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner was consulted on these details prior to the travel to ensure that the rules were followed,” read the statement.
“The prime minister continues to reimburse the equivalent of a commercial airline ticket for his personal travel and that of his family.”
On Sunday, Conservative MP and ethics committee member Michael Barrett posted a video to X stating that the group will meet this week to discuss the Trudeau family vacation.
“If [Justin Trudeau] has nothing to hide, there’s no reason he can’t release the correspondence he had with the ethics commissioner. There’s no reason why he can’t give Canadians and parliamentarians the truth about this,” he said.
NEW
The Ethics committee will meet this week after Justin Trudeau accepted a gift worth $84,000.
For context: the median household income is $70,332.
Trudeau claimed it was pre-approved – but that’s not something the Ethics Commissioner does.
Canadians deserve answers. pic.twitter.com/UyGqKKFNH5
— Michael Barrett (@MikeBarrettON) January 14, 2024
The House of Commons website says the committee will convene tomorrow to determine if it will undertake a study of the Trudeau family vacation to Jamaica.
The Trudeau’s vacations have previously raised brows.
In 2018, a headline-making family trip to India cost taxpayers over $1.5 million, per House of Commons documents.