Conservatives, NDP disagree on scope of Trudeau vacation probe ahead of committee debate

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Members of Parliament are set to meet to consider launching a probe into the recent Jamaican vacation gifted to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by family friends, though the Conservatives and NDP differ on how the Commons committee study should be handled.

The Conservatives and Bloc Québécois called the meeting for Wednesday, which is outside the usual parliamentary calendar. In a letter last week, the two parties said the trip raised “major red flags under Canada’s ethics laws” and warranted a study of whether Mr. Trudeau broke them by accepting the free vacation. NDP House Leader Peter Julian says his party will only support the probe if it is broadened to study all gifts and sponsored travel for MPs.

The ethics committee is made up of MPs from all official parties in the House of Commons. For the request from the Conservatives and Bloc for an investigation to go ahead, they would need the support of either the NDP or the Liberals on the committee.

The Prime Minister and his family vacationed in Jamaica from Dec. 26 to Jan. 4. But the Prime Minister’s Office has repeatedly changed details around the trip, including who paid for it, and hasn’t release details of where he stayed.

The office first told The Canadian Press in December that Mr. Trudeau was covering the cost of the stay as well as the travel. However, it then corrected its statement and said the family was staying in Jamaica “at no cost at a location owned by family friends” but that he did pay for the commercial equivalent cost of his and his family’s flights.

The explanation for the trip was then changed a third time, with his office saying the Prime Minister and his family stayed with family friends, rather than at a location owned by the friends.

The National Post reported on Jan. 4 that the Trudeau family vacationed at a $9,300-per-night luxury villa owned by family friend Peter Green.

The Prime Minister’s Office has said that it consulted with the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner on the details of the travel prior to the trip “to ensure that the rules were followed.”

On Tuesday, Mr. Trudeau’s spokesperson, Mohammad Hussain, declined to specify under what section of the act the trip was permitted.

The Conflict of Interest Act allows public office holders to accept “a gift or other advantage” if it is given by a relative or friend. The ethics commissioner’s website also says public office holders don’t need to disclose such gifts or advantages or declare them in the public registry.

In an interview Tuesday, Conservative MP Michael Barrett said the trip warrants more scrutiny in part because the Prime Minister’s Office has changed its explanation of the trip three times.

He called on Mr. Trudeau to release his correspondence with the ethics commissioner’s office to clarify what information was shared with it.

Mr. Barrett also said the Prime Minister should clarify whether Mr. Green personally paid for the villa or whether the corporation that owns the resort waived the fees for Mr. Trudeau’s family. The Prime Minister’s Office declined to clarify that information when asked by The Globe and Mail on Tuesday.

The National Post reported that the total cost of the villa would have been around $84,000. The Globe has not independently verified the report.

Such a cost is well above the median household income in Canada and “certainly isn’t reasonable,” Mr. Barrett said. “It seems to force us into new territory, on what is reasonable versus what is legal.”

He said he wants the committee to review the matter and provide recommendations on what gifts are reasonable for a Prime Minister to accept and what the maximum value should be.

The NDP, though, says the probe should be expanded to study whether MPs are allowed to accept sponsored travel and whether the prime minister should have to reimburse more than just the equivalent cost of a commercial flight when they use government planes for a personal trip. For security reasons, prime ministers don’t take commercial flights.

“We certainly agree that it’s a slap in the face when Mr. Trudeau takes this kind of a trip to Jamaica. We believe that that is a real problem when folks are struggling to make ends meet. But we’ve seen the Conservatives accept similar kinds of gifts,” Mr. Julian said.

The New Democrat pointed to an iPolitics report that Conservative MPs took a sponsored trip to Britain, which included a meal featuring $601 bottles of champagne.

Mr. Barrett said he would wait to see what the NDP recommend at committee but that the party’s proposed expanded scope showed that it’s “working for Justin Trudeau and not working for Canadians.”

Government House Leader Steve MacKinnon’s office said it had no comment on the proposed committee study.

With reports from The Canadian Press.