Row over huge cost of Canada PM’S India trip
TORONTO: CANADIAN Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s troubled trip to India cost CA$ 1.5 million…and counting, making it among the most expensive of his tenure even as the final bill has yet to be settled. This was revealed in documents tabled in the country’s Parliament and led to charges of wasting taxpayer money from the Opposition.
According to the documents, as originally reported by the Canadian media, the eight-day visit during which Trudeau criss-crossed the country, had major costs including nearly CA $ 500,000 (1 CA$ = ~ Rs 51) for the VIP aircraft he travelled in and over $ 300,000 in hotel expenses.
But what irked critics more were items like the over $ 17,000 paid to a Vancouver-based celebrity chef to travel to India for cooking up a couple of meals for special events.
“It's hard to see what value taxpayers got out of this trip aside from some groans at his excessive wardrobe changes,” Aaron Wudrick, federal director of the Ottawa-based watchdog, Canadian Taxpayers Federation, told the Hindustan Times.
The issue also dominated Question Period in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
As Opposition leader Andrew Scheer raised the issue of “spending so recklessly” in this context, MP Alain Reyes pointed out the items on the list also included “$60,000 to rent chauffeured vehicles; and hundreds of thousands of dollars to feed and house the 77-member delegation that included 21 MPS, most of whom did not attend any working meetings during the trip.”
Trudeau responded by accusing the Opposition of “making the choice to play petty politics and make personal attacks.”
He said over $ 2 million was spent by his predecessor Stephen Harper for his India trip.