Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s vacation to Jamaica during the Christmas season cost Canadians far more than his vacation the year before. CBC News reported Thursday the Canadian government’s answer to questions posed by Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer indicated Trudeau’s vacation with his family to Prospect Estate near Ocho Rios cost Canadians $230,442 — a 42% increase over the $162,000 cost of a similar trip over the Christmas holidays in 2022/2023. Trudeau’s most expensive vacation to date as prime minister was a visit to the Aga Khan on a private island in the Bahamas, which ended up costing taxpayers $271,000 and resulted in a ruling he had violated the ethics rules governing the House of Commons. His office said he had paid for his family accommodations during the trip, which some people estimated to be worth as much as $84,000. It corrected that to say he stayed for free at a resort owned by his family friend Peter Green. He has defended his Jamaica vacation, saying his family took one over the holidays like others do and that all of the rules were followed. Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein said Trudeau’s office consulted with him before he went to Jamaica. Under the rules governing gifts and travel, von Finckenstein said there is an exception for taking them from family and friends. “What we have here is clearly a generous gift between people who are friends and I don't see why, just because they are well off, they can't exchange gifts,” said von Finckenstein. The Canadian government said the largest expense for this year’s trip was from the RCMP officers accompanying his family. While the RCMP reported the trip cost it $162,051 on top of the regular salaries of its officers, it declined to provide a breakdown about whether or not they paid to stay at Prospect Estate. The latest Jamaica trip made headlines because the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) plane flying the Trudeaus experienced a mechanical problem. The CAF had to send a second plane with a crew to Jamaica to fix it. Like all prime ministers, he is required for security reasons to fly in Canadian government planes and reimburse it for the cost of commercial airfare when travelling for personal reasons. The Canadian government acknowledged the second plane accounted for $20,835 of the $57,553 the trip cost the CAF. It said the mechanical problem the plane encountered was a malfunctioning integrated standby instrument (ISI), “which is used as an alternative source for flight and navigation data.”Former CAF lieutenant-colonel Dean Black said the ISI would have needed replacing before the plane could return to Canada. “An integrated standby instrument provides standby altitude, altitude and airspeed information to the flight crew, these being critical data components to the safe operation of an aircraft,” said Black. Another mechanical flaw caused the C-150 Polaris ferrying Trudeau to and from the G20 Summit to be grounded in New Delhi in September. The third government department to incur costs related to the trip was the Privy Council Office (PCO), which provides an employee charged with ensuring the prime minister has access to secure communications. The PCO reported its employee's stay in Jamaica cost $10,838, including $2,681 to stay at an Airbnb. Documents obtained from the RCMP under an Access to Information and Privacy request reported there was an incident during his stay. While the documents have heavy redcations, RCMP officers reported in December a person showed up at Prospect Estate where the Trudeaus were staying, wanting to speak with him. “The individual who wanted to meet (redacted) returned but this time to (redacted),” said an officer. “PPO (Parliamentary Precinct Operations) spoke to him advising he was not to return.” The person wanting to speak with him agreed. Photos and vehicle information was shared with its partners for their situational awareness.The RCMP said the individual left a business card with the manager.RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Kim Chamberland confirmed the incident took place, but she said Trudeau was not in danger.Trudeau faced criticism in January for staying for free at Prospect Estate. READ MORE: Trudeau defends ‘free’ Jamaican vacation at family friend’s estateThis time it was for staying in a $9,300 per night place over the Christmas holidays. It was the same estate the Trudeaus stayed at during the spring, which cost taxpayers $162,000.The Greens had made donations to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, which established a scholarship fund in 2021 in memory of one of their family members who died from breast cancer.
