CLIMATE EMERGENCY: Trudeau's climate ambassador spent $254k on travel in two years
Catherine Stewart, appointed by Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault in August 2022 as Canada's ambassador in the fight against climate change, frequently opted for business class flights when train service was available.
DOCUMENTS: Climate Ambassador @C_Stewart729 runs up $254K in travel expenses her first 2 yrs on the job incl. stays at luxury hotels up to $623 per night and business class airfares. https://t.co/lqynX3h4o7 @S_Guilbeault @CanAmbClimate pic.twitter.com/abulrtsiQQ
— Blacklock's Reporter (@mindingottawa) July 8, 2024
Access records obtained by Blacklock's Reporter show Stewart travelled to Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam, Bali, Beijing, Bern, Brasilia, Brussels, Cairo, Copenhagen, Delhi, Florence, Geneva, Helsinki, Istanbul, Kinshasa, Leipzig, Lisbon, London, Milan, Mumbai, Munich, New York City, Paris, Rome, Sao Paulo, Sharm El-Sheikh, Vienna, Washington and Zurich.
Rather than taking the train, Stewart flew from Ottawa to Toronto and frequently from Ottawa to New York.
Expenses for the long-time Environment and Climate Change bureaucrat included business-class airfare and luxury hotel stays while advocating for methane policies that would attack oil and gas jobs and Canadian farmers at United Nations conferences.
At least one trip and an accompanying luxury hotel stay had no detailed reason for the travel. A May 3, 2023 visit to Florence, Italy, was marked as "operational activities.”
Records indicate Environment and Climate Change okayed $623 for the Ambassador’s stay at the B&B Hotel Firenze.
"All sectors have to do their fair share" according to Guilbeault, except the government, of course.
Justin Trudeau's government famously voted to declare a "national climate emergency" in 2019.
Our House of Commons (minus Conservatives) just voted to declare a #ClimateEmergency and require that Canada deeply reduce emissions to help keep global warming below 1.5 degrees.
— Nate Erskine-Smith (@beynate) June 18, 2019
My full speech is here: https://t.co/EC2xd9gQaR pic.twitter.com/x9m3LeCHfQ
Sheila Gunn Reid
Chief Reporter
Sheila Gunn Reid is the Alberta Bureau Chief for Rebel News and host of the weekly The Gunn Show with Sheila Gunn Reid. She's a mother of three, conservative activist, and the author of best-selling books including Stop Notley.