Governor-General Mary Simon and her guests amassed a catering bill of nearly $ 100,000 during their flights to and from the Middle East from March 16-24.
According to an order paper presented by Conservative MP Michael Barrett, Simon and her 29 guests, who traveled to London, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and back, spent $ 93,117.89 aboard the CC-150 government plane. Polaris.
During the trip, Simon was a guest of honor at Expo 2020 in Dubai. She was also scheduled to tour Camp Canada at Ali Al Salem Air Force Base in Kuwait and meet with members of the Canadian Armed Forces at Al Udaid Air Base in Qatar.
Barrett’s presentation required the government to provide various details of the flight aboard the CC-150 Polaris – including the amount of fuel used and the amount of money spent on fuel – between December 1, 2021 and April 26, 2022.
“We always want transparency from the government about what their international travel costs are, especially at a time when Canadians can’t travel and are experiencing a cost of living crisis,” he told CTV News Channel’s Power Play on Tuesday.
The price of fuel for the trip was $ 248,127.02.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Deputy Prime Minister Christia Freeland and 58 others accrued $ 57,401.56 in catering costs while traveling to London, Riga, Berlin, Warsaw and back between March 5 and March 11. Their fuel bill was $ 195,265.47.
During another trip to Europe, Trudeau and 47 others collected a catering bill of $ 46,018.07 with $ 114,255.83 spent on fuel.
Rideau Hall’s communications director Natalie Babin Dufresne told CTV News about the cost of catering during Simon’s trip to the Middle East.
“The governor-general is making official and state visits abroad at the request of the prime minister and in support of Canada’s international diplomatic goals. The Canadian Armed Forces is responsible for providing transportation during these visits and as such is responsible for all decisions related to the nutrition of these flights, “the e-mail response said.
Barrett said that while he understood the important work that heads of state did abroad, it was also necessary to take into account the “level of luxury” they enjoyed.
“They were not on the plane all the time, we do not know what their costs were at the destination. We are only talking about what they consumed during the flight, “he said. “For many Canadians [the amount] exceeds the income of their household per year and they have spent it on one trip. ”
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