Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to the media outside the Basilica of Sainte-Anne de Beaupré, east of Quebec City, during the papal visit of Pope Francis on July 28. Bernard Brough/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has received a gift from his own likeness about 17 times since becoming prime minister, including once from the president of China.
The portraits and photographs, along with countless vases, wine bottles and star Wars paraphernalia, are among more than 400 gifts valued at more than $200 that Mr. Trudeau has declared to the federal ethics commissioner since late 2015.
Among the images “of himself,” as Mr. Trudeau’s revelations usually describe them, are a portrait print from Chinese President Xi Jinping and a goatskin painting offered by Abiy Ahmed Ali, the prime minister of Ethiopia.
There is also a 3D crystal collage of Mr. Trudeau and former US President Barack Obama, as well as cutouts of him and his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, both made by Canadian artists.
The Prime Minister’s Office, when asked, did not specifically answer the question of what happens to all these images of Mr. Trudeau. For example, are there any – such as the oil painting entitled “Happy Moments” – hanging in his residence at Rideau Cottage? They said simply that some gifts are kept or stored while others are donated or confiscated.
Roy Norton, chief of protocol at Global Affairs Canada from 2016 to 2019, told The Canadian Press that he doesn’t bank on the portrait trend other than a desire to “make it more personal and cheaper.”
To that end, Mr. Norton said in an interview, the Canadian protocol office will try to match gifts offered by Mr. Trudeau to the recipient’s tastes.
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel was a Bach fan, so she received a box of concertos performed by Glenn Gould, he said, while one of Mr Trudeau’s gifts to former US President Donald Trump was a photograph from the 1980s of Trump with Pierre Elliott Trudeau in New York.
“Trump likes pictures of himself, so this was a gift that seemed to be very well received,” Mr Norton said. The president then told the media: “What a great picture.”
Mr. Norton explained that the gift exchange is a highly orchestrated bureaucratic affair, adding that Canadian prime ministers will not receive any gifts because of the potential for negative attention.
“No leader of a democratic country is interested in being compromised or having to spend part of the news cycle defending a gift received or given,” he said.
Mr. Trudeau has received 110 gifts from heads of state or other governments since becoming prime minister, an analysis of public records shows, a significant reduction during the pandemic as travel has become much less frequent.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II was the most generous of the foreign officials, presenting Mr. Trudeau with 10 gifts ranging from a handmade leather saddle to “sculptural plant pots” to jars of honey. The king even left a box of skin care products for Mr. Trudeau during a personal visit to Canada last year, during which the prime minister’s office says the two did not meet.
French President Emmanuel Macron is second with seven gifts for the Prime Minister, including a limited edition star Wars X-wing pen – a gift perhaps overshadowed by Obama’s 2016 film script proposal. The Force Awakenssigned by director JJ Abrams.
More than 140 gifts Mr. Trudeau declared were actually for his wife or their children, such as ride-on scooters and Bo the “First Dog” stuffed toys given by Mr. Obama.
Several dozen consisted of “introductions to” various designers of clothing, accessories and jewelry, such as a pair of fighting gloves offered by Rival Boxing Gear in 2018. Others were bags containing various branded items, such as a Jack Daniel’s T-shirt and a hoodie offered along with a bottle of whiskey.
Mr. Trudeau has had to forfeit 20 gifts over the past few years, including three paintings of himself, an Arabic cloak and a Seiko watch from the Japanese prime minister, because they cost more than $1,000.
He recouped part of the cost of two gifts so he could keep them — an e-bike offered by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in 2016 and a print by Inuit artist Annie Putuguk from the president of Nunavik Tunngavik Inc. in 2017. He also received a Huawei Mate 10 Pro Android phone from Li in 2017.
To prevent Chinese electronic devices from arousing suspicion, Mr. Norton said the RCMP scans everything the prime minister receives and sometimes even takes apart items, looking for anything compromising. And a spokesman for Mr. Trudeau said all gifts sent to him are checked for security.
The ethics disclosures do not include items given to Mr. Trudeau that cost less than $200, such as trinkets and letters that he often receives from the general public.
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