The Governor General’s office billed taxpayers $1.3 million for a week-long junket through the Middle East.
According to federal documents first reported on by the Canadian Taxpayer’s Federation (CTF), then governor general Julie Payette flew to Dubai for Expo 2020 at the height of the pandemic at a time when Canadians faced stringent travel restrictions.
“What value are taxpayers getting for this $1.3-million trip to the Middle East?” asked CTF federal director Franco Terrazzano.
“Can the governor general prove that spending $1.3 million to go to Expo 2020 in Dubai was a better use of taxpayers’ money than hiring more nurses or helping struggling taxpayers?”
When broken down further, costs included a $160,467 bill from the Office of the Governor General, $518,741 from Global Affairs Canada, $472,591 by the Department of National Defence and $155,931 from the RCMP.
The documents were released on the Government Operations Committee website months after government employees claimed before the committee that in-flight catering receipts could not be provided.
In September, Governor General Mary Simon’s deputy secretary Chrstine MacIntyre refused to reveal to the House of Commons government operations committee what food items were served on the flight but did say she was a passenger
After being ordered to provide “copies of unredacted invoices associated with the March 2022 trip to the Middle East,” they were finally released publicly, although detailed receipts were not posted.
An access to information request filed by the CTF reveals some further details about the catering menus.
National Defence receipts show government officials dining on gourmet “hot dinner services” including “apple and cranberry stuffed pork tenderloins” and “white chocolate mousse with raspberry coulis and lemon zest” for deserts. Breakfasts included “aritsan cheese and meat.”
“Politicians and bureaucrats need to show respect for taxpayers’ hard-earned money and that means they need to stop wasting so much and proactively post receipts online,” said Terrazzano.
“They have the receipts for the fancy airplane food, but they’re refusing to post the flight menus online.”
Conservatives are demanding that current Governor General Simon fully disclose a $100,000 catering bill for her Expo 2022 trip from Mar. 16 to Mar. 24.
“We’d like to know whether we are dealing with caviar and champagne. What kind of meals are we talking about here?” Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus asked in September.
