Trudeau’s Jamaica Trip Cost 42 Percent More Than 2022, Mainly Due to Security

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau waves as he steps off a plane at CFB Bagotville in Saguenay, Que., on June 14, 2023. The Canadian Press/Jacques Boissinot

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Jamaican vacation last Christmas cost taxpayers 42 percent more than his trip to the Caribbean island the previous year, government documents show. A large share of the increase was incurred by the RCMP officers who accompanied the Trudeau family.

The 10-day family trip to Prospect Estate near Ocho Rios cost taxpayers $230,442, a 42 percent rise from the $162,000 spent on a similar trip over the Christmas holidays in 2022. The figures were published by the government in response to questions from Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer about the cost of the trip.

The largest portion of the bill—$162,051—was attributed to RCMP expenses. The amount is just shy of the $163,000 spent on the entire vacation for Mr. Trudeau and his family the year prior.

It is unclear why the RCMP amount, which does not include the officers’ salaries, is so high. The CBC has speculated that the officers may have paid to stay at the Prospect Estate resort along with the family. The broadcaster noted, however, that the RCMP declined to go into details regarding the amount spent.

The prime minister’s flight crew from the Royal Canadian Airforce (RCAF) incurred $16,099.98 in costs for accommodations and per diem expenses. Mr. Trudeau flies exclusively on government aircraft for security reasons.

Fuel cost estimates for the flights to and from Jamaica totalled just over $10,000 each way, but there were four flights in total, two containing the Trudeau family, four security members, and four crew and another two flights containing four crew members and one member of security.

As Mr. Trudeau was heading back to Canada, the Royal Canadian Air Force CC-144 Challenger that initially brought the family to the island was “unserviceable” and another CC-144 was sent to Jamaica by the Defence Department.

The government said no extra expenses occurred because the costs of repair were covered under an existing warranty program with Bombardier. The aircraft manufacturer and the replacement part had come from existing Defence inventory.

Mr. Trudeau and his family’s travel costs were largely covered by him personally and he alleged that the stay at the resort, owned by his friend Peter Green, had been a gift and that he had stayed at the resort for free.

Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein noted that the prime minister had informed him of the trip prior to flying to Jamaica and later testified in January that Mr. Trudeau had not broken any ethics rules.

The prime minister has courted controversy in the past regarding his Christmas vacations, particularly in 2017 when Mr. Trudeau visited a private residence on an island in the Bahamas belonging to the Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili religion.

The trip cost taxpayers around $271,000 overall, despite all travel and accommodation for Prime Minister Trudeau and his family being paid for by the Aga Khan.

Mr. Trudeau was accused and later found guilty of violating ethics laws, with the RCMP at one point considering laying formal charges of fraud against the prime minister.