Those connected to Liberals, apparently believe that they are entitled to the taxpayers’ money without public accountability.

The leading example for this, of course, is still Justin Trudeau, who is on constant ego trips around the world, supposedly “conferring” with world leaders. Perhaps “conferring” is not the correct word. It should be “posing” with world leaders. On each of these ego trips, Trudeau is accompanied by his official photographer. “Posing” is one thing that Trudeau does well. Trudeau’s holidays are a constant drain on the taxpayers. He takes at least four holidays each year, accompanied by RCMP security, which increases expenses. RCMP travel, meals, local transport, lodging and overtime, cost thousands of dollars each trip.

Last year at Christmas, Trudeau and family went to Jamaica, at Easter, they travelled to a luxury ski resort in Montana, and, in August, Trudeau was at a 5-star resort in Tofino, Vancouver Island, for his “happy family” photograph for Canadian consumption after the trifling event of his separation from his wife of 18 years.

Franco Terrazzano of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation stated in the National Post October 7, 2023, “if Trudeau skipped just one of these vacations and instead stayed at his taxpayer-funded cottage at Harrington Lake, then he’d save taxpayers what most people make over a couple of years.” The government supplied Harrington Lake vacation home was completely renovated last year at a cost of millions of dollars including $750,000 for the renovation of the kitchen. Trudeau’s Christmas holiday is coming up soon and taxpayers can only cringe at the expected cost.

Further Liberal Extravaganzas

The August 2023, REALity included the unbelievable extravagance of Governor General Mary Simon. In addition to the costly trips listed in that article, in response to a question on the Order Paper by Conservative MP Kelly McCauley (Edmonton West), it was revealed that Governor General Mary Simon has spent over $170,000 on dry cleaning services since her appointment in 2018, which is, on average, over $1,800 a month.

The expenses of Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault and his staff are equally astounding. When he attended a climate change conference in Egypt in November 2022 (REALity August 2023), he was accompanied by a 200-member delegation. They stayed at a luxury resort, which had a private beach, eight swimming pools, a disco club, spa, camel rides, three buffets, and 13 bars. A great and expensive vacation was had by the lucky Canadian delegates, but no tangible results came out of the climate change conference.

Mr. Guilbeault, his staff, and officials ran up $710,913 in travel expenses in 2022. The international destinations included Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam, Berlin, Bogota, Brasilia, Brussels, Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Denver, Eureka, Florence, Geneva, Helsinki, Interlaken, Kinshasa, Leipzig, Lisbon, London, New Delhi, New York, Paris, Rome, Santiago, Sapporo, Sharm el-Sheikh, Tokyo, Vienna, and Washington. Domestic destinations in 2022 included Banff, Bella Coola (BC), Calgary, Charlottetown, Edmonton, Fredericton, Halifax, Hamilton, Iqaluit, Montreal, Niagara Falls, Quebec City, Saguenay, Sarnia, Saskatoon, Smoky Lake (Alberta), Thunder Bay, Timmins, Toronto, Vancouver, Vaughan, Victoria, Whitehorse, and Winnipeg. Environment Minister Guilbeaut and his staff have left a remarkably high carbon footprint

Other Expensive Liberal Projects

Cabinet Retreat September 2022

A quarter of a million dollars was spent for a three-day cabinet retreat to discuss poverty and inflation. It was held at Vancouver’s exclusive Regency Hotel which charges thousands of dollars for food and catering. One of its buffets sells an $88 choice, offering the “millionaires” plate of steak and lobster. Expenses for this cabinet meeting included $129,469 in room charges, and private security guards cost $11,533, even though the RCMP were on site. The catering expenses totalled $46, 266 from the Hyatt restaurant’s menu, including $29 dollars for a hamburger plate and $49 for a salmon plate. The purpose of this cabinet meeting was to provide “efforts to make life more affordable for Canadians and keep delivering economic growth that benefits everyone”.

At this Vancouver cabinet retreat, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters that she was in touch with Canadian concerns about inflation. She said, “It was really important for me to get that kind of direct fingertip feel of what is happening with the Canadian economy and what Canadians are feeling”.

Investigation into Chinese Election Interference 

Trudeau appointed former Governor General David Johnston, his good friend, to be the “Special Rapporteur” to lead the investigation into Chinese election interference. He was paid $16,000 a day for his work. During the three months Johnston held this position, (he resigned in June, 2023) Mr. Johnston approved sole-sourced contracts for Liberal-only consultants that included fees for publicists to improve his image by way of identifying columnists and key opinion leaders to promote him

Johnston also gave a six-month contract worth $4,496,887 to the Toronto law firm Torys LLP to assist him in his work. The lawyer assigned to his file was Sheila Block who was a Liberal party donor. Johnston also awarded a $28, 239 sole-source contract for four day’s work to RKESTRA Communications Corporation, an Ottawa public relations firm run by former Rideau Hall press secretary, Valerie Gervais

Pierre Trudeau Foundation

In 2002, the scandal ridden Pierre Trudeau Foundation was given a $125 million grant by Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. The interest from this endowment to the Foundation was to provide the main source of its funding. It also accepted a donation in the amount of $200,000 linked to the Communist Chinese Party. In 2016, the Foundation also received from the Millennium Golden Eagle International Company, which lists a private home address as its business location in Canada. However, this company requested that a receipt be mailed to an address in China, which is the same address as Communist China’s affiliate agency, China Cultural Industry Association. The Foundation also holds undisclosed investments in Chinese stock.

On Sept 24, 2023, the House of Commons Committee on Public Accounts voted unanimously that the Auditor General investigate the Trudeau Foundation.

Trudeau’s Popularity Collapses

When Justin Trudeau was elected in 2015, he was a darling of the media, both domestically and internationally. Everybody wanted a selfie with him.

Times have changed. Abacus Data polling company found Trudeau’s disapproval rating on Sept 14, 2023, to be 57%, his lowest disapproval rating since 2015. Only 27% of Canadians had a positive view of this frivolous failure of a prime minister.