(Ottawa) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office said he and his family were vacationing in Jamaica with “free accommodation in accommodation owned by family friends,” after initially saying the family was paying for his stay. .
The Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement Wednesday that the federal ethics commissioner “was consulted before the trip to ensure that existing rules were followed.”
The office offered the clarification the day before Mr. Trudeau ended his vacation on the Caribbean island. He is there with Sophie Grégoire and their three children.
The couple announced last summer that they were separating after 18 years of marriage, with both saying in separate statements that they would remain close.
Before the family left for Jamaica on Boxing Day, Mr. Trudeau’s office said it had consulted with the ethics commissioner and that the family would cover the cost of their stay, and would reimburse the public travel expenses on a government plane.
“The Prime Minister continues to reimburse the equivalent of a commercial airline ticket for his personal travel and that of his family,” his office said Wednesday.
Officials declined to confirm where Mr. Trudeau resides.
However, CBC and Radio-Canada reported last spring that during the family’s most recent trip to Jamaica for New Year’s Eve, they stayed at a luxury estate owned by Peter Green, whose family has known the Trudeaus for decades.
The public broadcaster revealed at the time that the Prime Minister’s Office had refused to say whether Mr. Trudeau had paid for his own accommodation.
Mr. Trudeau’s trip to the Aga Khan’s private island in the Bahamas after Christmas Day in 2016 landed him an ethics violation for violating conflict of interest rules.
Former commissioner Mary Dawson ruled that Mr. Trudeau’s vacation broke the law prohibiting ministers from accepting gifts or “benefits” that could be seen as an attempt to influence government business.
She concluded that the exception that applies if the gift comes from a friend is not valid in this case. Mr. Trudeau and the Aga Khan, a friend of his father, had little or no contact in the 30 years before his election as leader of the Liberal Party.
A spokeswoman for Canada’s Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner said Wednesday that it could not release details about information provided by Mr. Trudeau’s office about the trip, citing government requirements. confidentiality enshrined in the rules on conflicts of interest.
“The role of the office is solely to ensure that the provisions on gifts of the law and the code are respected,” argued Jocelyne Brisebois in a written statement.
“Note that there is an exception in the law that allows a public office holder to accept gifts or other benefits from a relative or friend and that such gifts do not require public disclosure. »