Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s trip to Montana earlier this year cost taxpayers almost a quarter of a million dollars — more than $200,000 more than what the government originally claimed.that it cost the Canadian Armed Forces and Privy Council Office $23,846. Yet, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which provides security for the prime minister while travelling, managed to spend $204,993 on that same trip.
The documents released by the Trudeau government show that the Canadian Armed Forces spent $2,752.50 on accommodations for the aircrew, $1,756.14 on per diems for the aircrew and $13,396.76 on fuel, catering, ground transportation, handling and other fees related to the air travel.While Trudeau was in Montana, the total cost to the Privy Council Office was $1,581.49 on accommodations, $1,667.37 on airfare, $1,226.19 on per diems, $1,438.84 on other transportation and $26.
But while the PCO and ministry of defence responses total just shy of $24,000, they did not include that the RCMP spent approximately 10 times what other government departments spent to get Trudeau to and around Montana. CBC reported the information after asking the RCMP how much it had spent. The RCMP did not respond to National Post’s questions requesting an explanation of how many RCMP members were with Trudeau, how much accommodation cost per officer, how much was spent on food compared to alcohol and whether any of the expenses are related to skiing at the Big Sky ski resort.In a disclosure provided to the ethics commissioner, Trudeau declared that a “ground security motorcade” during a “private visit in Big Sky, Montana” was a gift from the U.S. Secret Service.