The Conservatives in Canada’s parliament are calling on the interim conflict of interest and ethics commissioner to launch a probe into Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Christmas vacation in Jamaica.

Opposition parties have been criticising Trudeau for spending his holiday at an oceanfront villa in Jamaica at no cost, as first reported by the National Post. Rooms go for about CAD$9,300 per night, according to the resort’s website. Prospect Estate and Villas, located near Ocho Rios in St Ann, is owned by Canadian businessman Peter Green. 

Conservative member of parliament Michael Barrett wrote to interim commissioner, Konrad von Finckenstein, highlighting “serious ethical concerns” about the vacation, noting the resort stay was “not the equivalent of staying at a friend’s home, in a guest house on a wealthy friend’s property or even a personal home which might be rented out periodically”.

Last week, the Canadian prime minister’s office said in a statement that the trip had been cleared by the ethics commissioner and originally said Trudeau would continue to reimburse the equivalent of a commercial airline ticket for his personal travel and that of his family. 

Questions over whether holiday was a gift

However, earlier this week, Canada’s Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) clarified that Trudeau and his family stayed “at no cost at a location owned by family friends,” after it originally told The Canadian Press that the family was paying.

In his letter, Barrett raised concerns over the fact that the resort would be “forgoing substantial revenue” by allowing a free-of-charge stay, the holiday was “a gift – and a very substantial gift at that”. 

He argued that the Conflict of Interest Act makes it clear that no public office holder or family member “shall accept any gift or other advantage… that might reasonably be seen to have been given to influence the public office holder in the exercise of an official power, duty or function”.

Barrett called on the PMO to release all communication about the trip made with von Finckenstein’s office. This is not the first time Trudeau faced criticism for his trips, including to the same resort.

The Green family also donated to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation in 2021. Last year, the charity came under scrutiny following revelations that a businessman with ties to Beijing donated CAD$200,000 to the foundation.

Trudeau’s last Caribbean getaway cost taxpayers around CAD$162,000, with most of it going to security and personnel costs for the RCMP and Royal Canadian Air Force. At the time, the PMO said he paid the “equivalent of a commercial airline ticket for himself and his family”, which is “standard practice”.

The ethics commissioner also cleared that trip.