(Ottawa) Canada’s Prime Minister’s Office denies allegations that it misled the Ethics Commissioner, after the federal Conservatives called for an investigation into Justin Trudeau’s vacation in Jamaica.
The federal Conservatives want the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner to investigate how the Prime Minister’s Office handled the fact that he was hosted for free.
Press Secretary Mohammad Hussain said Wednesday evening that “in accordance with standard practice, the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner was consulted before the trip to ensure that the rules were followed.”
“Any allegation that we misled the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner is categorically false,” he added.
MP Michael Barrett, Conservative ethics critic, asked Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein in writing on Tuesday if he knew that Mr. Trudeau had stayed at a luxury estate owned by a family friend.
Mr. Barrett believes that this stay is “not the equivalent of staying with a friend”, rather describing it as a gift with commercial value.
The Canadian Press has not independently verified an article in the National Post according to which Mr. Trudeau spent his vacations in a luxurious estate in Jamaica where villas rented for thousands of dollars per night during the holiday season.
In his letter, Mr. Barrett said he recognized that those who hold public office “have pre-existing friendships and that it is not uncommon to stay at a friend’s house during the holidays.” He also recognizes that Mr. Trudeau “is likely to have rich and privileged friends” since he comes from a well-off and privileged family background.
However, Mr. Barrett wrote that the fact that Mr. Trudeau benefited from such an expensive stay “could reasonably be seen” as being intended to influence a head of government.
Earlier Wednesday, Mr. Trudeau’s office said that “the Prime Minister and his family were staying with family friends free of charge.”
This statement differs slightly from last week, when the Prime Minister’s Office said the family was staying at a place owned by family friends, not that they were staying with family.
But it also differs from what the Prime Minister’s Office had said before the trip, that the family would cover the costs of the 10-day trip to Jamaica.
Last week, shortly before the publication of the article National Postthe firm clarified that Mr. Trudeau had reimbursed the equivalent of the plane tickets on a commercial flight, but that the Trudeaus were staying for free with family friends.
Mr. Barrett also expressed concerns to the Ethics Commissioner about the shift in rhetoric from Mr. Trudeau’s staff on the question of who was footing the vacation bill.
A spokeswoman for Mr. von Finckenstein would not say last week what details the prime minister’s office had provided to his office.
However, she recalled that the Conflict of interest law allowed a public office holder to accept “a gift or other advantage” from a relative or friend without having to declare it publicly.
In a statement Wednesday, another spokeswoman for the commissioner stressed that he did not have to approve or not approve the vacations, but his sole role was to ensure that the gift provisions under the Conflict of interest law and the code of ethics are respected.
As for Mr. Barrett’s letter, spokeswoman Melanie Rushworth said the commissioner was limited in what he could say because of confidentiality provisions.