Federal officials insist Canada’s housing advocate did not use public money to offset a personal holiday in Egypt, despite records showing taxpayers paid for business-class flights while she remained abroad for two additional weeks.Blacklock's Reporter says Housing Advocate Marie-Josée Houle travelled to Cairo in November 2024 on a $13,684 business-class trip billed to taxpayers to attend meetings and a five-day World Urban Forum. After those events concluded, Houle extended her stay in Egypt for personal reasons, according to her office.“After participating in meetings and the World Urban Forum, the advocate extended her stay for personal reasons and paid for all associated costs,” said spokeswoman Véronique Robitaille. Flight records, however, show all airfare was charged to the public.Robitaille defended the Cairo trip as a legitimate business expense, saying Houle’s work has drawn international attention. Houle herself has described Canada as a global leader in housing policy, saying the federal housing advocate role is unique worldwide..Access to Information records show Houle attended the forum during the first week of November, but hotel charges continued beyond the conference. Her stays at Cairo’s Marriott and Triumph hotels totalled $1,671. Business-class airfare between Ottawa and Cairo cost $6,624, with additional claims including a $1,600 cash advance for “local transportation, urgencies and other expenses.”The Cairo trip was the most expensive single journey among the $75,665 Houle billed for travel during her first two years as housing advocate. Her hotel expenses elsewhere ranged from $222 a night at a Winnipeg Delta to $233 at Victoria’s Hotel Grand Pacific, $373 at Vancouver’s Blue Horizon, $392 at Montréal’s Hotel Le Germain and $394 a night at Toronto’s Marriott.The spending comes despite cabinet’s 2023 pledge to rein in discretionary expenses and cut unnecessary travel. Then–Treasury Board president Anita Anand said departments were being ordered to refocus spending and identify savings..The 2023 budget promised a 15% reduction in discretionary costs, including travel. Subsequent disclosures showed many federal agencies ignored the directive, including the Privy Council, which increased travel spending by 17%.Former parliamentary budget officer Yves Giroux mocked the repeated promises of restraint. “If we followed all these commitments throughout the years the Ottawa airport should be closed by now,” Giroux told senators in 2023. “It’s still open.”
