A House of Commons committee unanimously voted to summon the ethics commissioner to testify about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s controversial vacation in Jamaica, despite Trudeau defending his trip at a news conference on Wednesday.
While making a housing announcement in Saint John, New Brunswick, Trudeau defended his vacation when a reporter asked whether he intended to change his future approach.
“Like many Canadian families, we went on vacation with friends. We followed all the rules,” said Trudeau.
Trudeau’s vacation spanned from December 26 to January 4 at the Prospect Estate resort, owned by businessman Peter Green, a Trudeau family friend. Previous reports revealed that staying at this luxurious Jamaican villa costs around $9,300 a night.
Trudeau spent ten days in Jamaica with his ex-wife and three children.
The initial claims by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) were that Trudeau would personally cover the holiday expenses. However, these claims were later retracted after media reports revealed that the family vacationed “at no cost at a location owned by family friends.”
The switch-up and uncertainty regarding Trudeau’s vacation led Conservative MP and ethics critic Michael Barrett to send a letter to the interim Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Konrad Winrich von Finckenstein, urging him to clear up any confusion by releasing the relevant correspondence.
Barrett voiced his concerns to the ethics committee on Wednesday morning.
“The question is, was the ethics commissioner deceived or misled in any way? And so, we need to get to the bottom of that. The best way to do that would be to have the conflict of interest and ethics commissioner come to this committee,” Barrett told the National Post.
Barrett tabled a motion calling for a single meeting on the issue to hear from von Finckenstein, which eventually gained cross-party support.
The Liberals, backed by the Bloc Québécois, proposed an amendment to the motion, aiming to broaden its scope beyond just the Jamaica vacation to include all matters related to travel, vacations, and gifts received by Members of Parliament.
The chair, Conservative MP John Brassard, confirmed that they would be able to question the commissioner on Trudeau’s family vacation to Jamaica.
The committee members were divided on the issue of compelling the commissioner’s office to disclose all correspondence related to Trudeau’s Jamaica trip, including emails, text messages, phone call logs, and documents.
This contention arises despite the commissioner’s office stating that it is not permitted to discuss information disclosed by public office holders and MPs.
Liberal MP Iqra Khalid warned against setting a “very bad precedent” if such private communications were made public.
The Liberals, Bloc, and NDP all opposed the Conservative’s additional motion for the committee to order the release of correspondence between the PMO and the ethics commissioner’s office on his last two New Year’s vacations.
The opposition has been critical of the prime minister’s past vacations, particularly an all-expenses-paid trip to the Aga Khan’s private island, in which Trudeau was found guilty of contravening conflict of interest laws in 2017.
The controversy is not Trudeau’s first encounter with ethical questions regarding his vacations. True North previously reported on a similar incident in December 2022 that involved Trudeau’s stay at the same Jamaican resort, raising conflict of interest concerns due to the Green family’s historical donations to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation.
The ethics commissioner’s upcoming testimony is expected to clarify the PMO’s compliance with the Conflict of Interest Act. This act allows public office holders to accept gifts from friends or relatives but raises questions about the perception of a conflict of interest, especially for high-value gifts such as Trudeau’s vacation.
The Conflict of Interest Act permits politicians to accept gifts and other benefits solely from relatives or family friends, provided a well-established and documented close relationship exists.
The NDP argues that reforms are needed, according to the Canadian Press.
“New Democrats want to see a review of the Conflict of Interest Act to actually crack down on corporate and lobbyist influence in politics, so it’s everyday Canadians who get ahead, not the ultra-wealthy,” said NDP House leader Peter Julian.
