Records show that 33 political aides, appointees, and cabinet ministers went with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to a climate change conference in New York on September 19.According to Blacklock’s Reporter, this happened after a budget promise to reduce travel spending this year.“I look forward to making real progress with international partners at the United Nations to build a better world,” Trudeau said at the time. “A better tomorrow requires effort.”Records indicate Trudeau travelled by government jet from Ottawa to New York. Travelling companions included Chief of Staff Katie Telford, senior advisor Ben Chin, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly, two official photographers and two press aides. The Canadian delegation totalled 34 people.The RCMP's security expenses were $27,099. The Privy Council spent $11,534, mostly on food. The department of foreign affairs and the RCAF did not share their costs.“Processing of expenses related to this travel is ongoing,” the department wrote in an Inquiry of Ministry tabled in the Commons. “As such, the department of foreign affairs is not currently able to provide the expenditures incurred to date.”Details of the New York trip were disclosed at the request of Conservative MP Dan Albas (Central Okanagan-Similkameen, BC) who asked, “With regard to government expenditures related to the prime minister’s trip to attend the United Nations General Assembly, what are the expenditures incurred to date?”Cabinet's March 28 budget A Made in Canada Plan promised to cut travel spending “by roughly 15%” this year. “Those savings will come from government operations,” Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said at the time. It was “really important to be a fiscally responsible government,” added Freeland.Trudeau attended the UN meeting to deliver a speech on climate change. He “met with world leaders and raised global issues,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a September 21 statement. “The prime minister highlighted a price on pollution as one of the most effective tools to cut emissions and, in the case of Canada, make life more affordable for people at the same time.”The climate conference happened five weeks before Trudeau decided to cut the carbon tax on heating oil until after the next election. In Atlantic Canada, where the Liberals have 24 seats, oil is how many people heat their homes.According to a report Pausing the Fuel Charge on Heating Oil from the Budget Office on November 17, the tax break is valued at $1.08 billion.
