Liberal leader Justin Trudeau has spent more time holidaying in BC — presumably surfing in Tofino — than on official business in Alberta since becoming prime minister in 2015, according to official documents from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).The National Post reported Trudeau used a total of 88 personal days holidaying in Tofino, Whistler and Revelstoke compared to just six personal visits to Lake Louise. It’s also more than all the work days he took in places such as the Calgary Stampede.In all, he took 680 personal days amounting to almost two years in cumulative vacation days, according to documents filed by the PMO.In fact, he spent more time in the Caribbean than Alberta. Included were 31 days in Costa Rica, nine days in Jamaica and eight days in Barbados visiting the Aga Kahn’s private island in 2017 that was found to be in breach of sections 5,11,12, and 21[1] of the Federal Conflict of Interest Act..Excluding election campaigns, Trudeau’s office has marked about 24% of the calendar days on his official schedule as ‘personal’ according to the Post. That compares to about 34% for typical Canadian workers, assuming statutory holidays and two weeks paid vacation.At the start of his term in 2015, Trudeau told the CBC he intended to be “ruthless” with taking time to be with his family.“This is the kind of work-life balance that I’ve often talked about as being essential in order to be able to be in service of the country with all one’s very best,” he said in a televised interview.The data was based on more than 2,900 publicly available itineraries published by the PMO since November, 2015..According to the report, the PMO responded that it publishes the documents “in the spirit of openness and transparency” and attempted to contrast it with former PM Stephen Harper. But The Western Standard’s Nigel Hannaford — who was Harper’s speech writer for six years — said he couldn’t recall him ever taking an official day off. If he did, they were few and far between.
Liberal leader Justin Trudeau has spent more time holidaying in BC — presumably surfing in Tofino — than on official business in Alberta since becoming prime minister in 2015, according to official documents from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).The National Post reported Trudeau used a total of 88 personal days holidaying in Tofino, Whistler and Revelstoke compared to just six personal visits to Lake Louise. It’s also more than all the work days he took in places such as the Calgary Stampede.In all, he took 680 personal days amounting to almost two years in cumulative vacation days, according to documents filed by the PMO.In fact, he spent more time in the Caribbean than Alberta. Included were 31 days in Costa Rica, nine days in Jamaica and eight days in Barbados visiting the Aga Kahn’s private island in 2017 that was found to be in breach of sections 5,11,12, and 21[1] of the Federal Conflict of Interest Act..Excluding election campaigns, Trudeau’s office has marked about 24% of the calendar days on his official schedule as ‘personal’ according to the Post. That compares to about 34% for typical Canadian workers, assuming statutory holidays and two weeks paid vacation.At the start of his term in 2015, Trudeau told the CBC he intended to be “ruthless” with taking time to be with his family.“This is the kind of work-life balance that I’ve often talked about as being essential in order to be able to be in service of the country with all one’s very best,” he said in a televised interview.The data was based on more than 2,900 publicly available itineraries published by the PMO since November, 2015..According to the report, the PMO responded that it publishes the documents “in the spirit of openness and transparency” and attempted to contrast it with former PM Stephen Harper. But The Western Standard’s Nigel Hannaford — who was Harper’s speech writer for six years — said he couldn’t recall him ever taking an official day off. If he did, they were few and far between.
