Governor General’s Germany Book Fair Trip in 2021 Cost Over $800K

Gov. Gen. Mary Simon delivers the throne speech in the Senate in Ottawa on Nov. 23, 2021. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

Governor General Mary Simon spent over $800,000 on travel expenses that included photographer fees and $200-per-plate meals during a four-day trip to Germany in 2021, according to newly released federal records.

Simon travelled with 32 guests in October 2021 to the Frankfurt Book Fair and total expenses came out to just over $801,400, according to an Inquiry of Ministry recently tabled in the House of Commons and reported on by Blacklock’s Reporter.

Bloc Québécois MP Julie Vignola requested Simon’s Frankfurt trip expenditures from Rideau Hall after a Commons committee previously learned that the Governor General’s week-long trip to Dubai in March 2022 cost $1.3 million and included expenses such as $218-per-meal in-flight catering fees.

Simon’s 32-guest delegation to Frankfurt included her husband, the Parliamentary Poet Laureate, three press aides, two official photographers, and two medical staff from the Department of National Defence.

The trip’s high expenses included accommodation at the five-star Steigenberger Frankfurter Hof Hotel and the Ritz-Carlton in Berlin, where the delegation enjoyed a champagne brunch and a six-course menu with wine for about $200 per person.

The delegation also billed over $19,700 for a Frankfurt Book Fair banquet attended by 77 diners, which the Inquiry said included “prominent Frankfurt Book Fair attendees” without naming names.

Travel Reasons

Cabinet said in the Inquiry that Simon’s trip to the book fair amid the pandemic was a necessary boost for Canadian authors.

“Culture and literature have helped to sustain us through these challenging times,” Simon said during the trip on Oct. 18, 2021.  “Many people have discovered and found comfort and connection in a new world of words.”

The Inquiry added that the book fair gave Canada, which was that year’s guest of honour, a chance to showcase “its publishing industry and the immense contribution of our authors and artists on the world stage.”

“Canada was able to promote the sale of Canadian titles at a time when the arts and literature sector was particularly hard hit during the pandemic,” it said.

The emergence of Simon’s Frankfurt-trip expenditures follow closely on the heels of a separate Inquiry of Ministry saying that the Governor General spent over $90,000 on a five-day tour of her home region, Kangiqsualujjuaq, Que., and the surrounding area in May 2022.

Nearly $66,000 of the total $90,615 that Simon’s delegation spent on the trip went toward covering the cost of charter aircraft, while over $11,000 of the trip’s total expenses covered accommodations.

The Inquiry said Simon spent her time during the trip visiting the mayor, speaking at local schools, and touring the Kuururjuaq National Park Centre.

It added that her office hosted no official meals or receptions during the visit.

Tara MacIsaac contributed to this report.