Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s three-day cabinet retreat to Charlottetown last summer cost taxpayers at least $412,000, according to records obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF). “Spending more than $400,000 on a three-day retreat to tackle affordability is tone-deaf and unacceptable,” said CTF Federal Director Franco Terrazzano in a Tuesday blog post. “Canadians don’t need politicians wasting this type of money; we need them to stop raising taxes that make life more expensive.”Figures contained within online proactive disclosures increased the total cost of the cabinet retreat to $485,196. Trudeau and his cabinet ministers gathered at a waterfront hotel in Charlottetown in August. The retreat was aimed at tackling the affordability and housing crises facing Canadians. The CTF said expenses from the retreat included $100,000 on hotel rooms, $22,000 on food and drinks, and a $52,000 banquet. At the cabinet retreat, Trudeau said his cabinet was “rolling up our sleeves to talk about affordability, to talk about economic growth for everyone, to talk about how we’re going to solve some of the housing challenges.”Ministers heard a presentation from British Columbia think tank Generation Squeeze, which has advocated for the Canadian government to implement a home equity tax. A home equity tax would take money Canadians receive when selling their homes. Terrazzano said it “seems like the Trudeau government’s only solution on affordability is to waste other people’s money flying around the country talking to each other.” He joked about ministers not having offices in Ottawa or Zoom accounts to do this work without spending thousands of dollars. The records obtained by the CTF were released in response to an order paper question from Conservative MP Tracy Gray (Kelowna-Lake Country, BC). Expenditures related to the cabinet retreat were as of November. Some travel claims remain outstanding. The Charlottetown retreat was held one year after the Canadian government organized another one in Vancouver, which was billed as an anti-inflation summit. The Vancouver retreat cost taxpayers more than $275,000 and saw Trudeau and his ministers drop tens of thousands of dollars at a cafe serving up an $88 millionaire’s cut steak and lobster plate. As the Charlottetown retreat wrapped up, Trudeau acknowledged Canadians were worried about the state of Canada and looking to blame anyone they can for it. “So yeah, it’s not an easy time to be a politician,” he said. He announced no new plans to address the affordability and housing crises during it. “So yeah, it’s not an easy time to be a taxpayer,” said Terrazzano. The Liberals said in September it can improve its declining poll numbers as MPs met for the final strategic planning day before Parliament resumed the following week. READ MORE: Liberals discuss inflation, climate change at ‘solution mode’ caucus retreatMost of the Liberals’ 158 MPs were attending a three-day caucus retreat in London, ON. During this retreat, Trudeau emphasized the importance of listening to concerns and feedback from constituents.
