Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada is under fire from opposition leaders for spending the Christmas vacations in Jamaica.
When Trudeau went on holiday in Jamaica in December, his government issued a travel advice warning its citizens not to visit the island. They had stated at the time that the alert was issued owing to the high number of killings, assaults, and robberies.
In Canada, the political opposition is criticizing him for taking a family vacation that resulted in a large expense.
According to City News in Canada, the cost to taxpayers for the 10-day vacation to a waterfront villa in Jamaica owned by a family who gave to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation was at least CAN$160,000.
The timing of the trip was criticized by the opposition leaders, who noted that it occurred at a time when Canadians were facing a cost-of-living problem.
The trip, according to Canada’s New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh, is simply another example of a prime minister who “doesn’t understand the realities of everyday Canadians, hasn’t lived those struggles.”
The Canadian Prime Minister’s Office is fighting back, stating that it received approval from the ethics commissioner and that Trudeau reimbursed the commercial value of his flight down with his family.
Nelson Wiseman, a political scientist at the University of Toronto, concurred with Trudeau, dismissing the uproar, saying this is the type of vacation that other international leaders take, and it’s not like the prime minister should stay at a Holiday Inn.
Meanwhile, Mario Dion, the now-former ethics commissioner who allowed the trip, has taken to Twitter to argue, “Gifts from a friend are acceptable from a legal ethical standpoint.” It is healthy for public opinion to use a different test from time to time.”
This is hardly Trudeau’s first vacation controversy. When his family stayed on the Aga Khan’s private island in the Bahamas in 2016, he was chastised by the ethics commissioner.