Trudeau gifted free accommodation at luxury Jamaican villa over Christmas holidays

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family vacationed again in Jamaica — and again at the same resort belonging to a family friend.

While the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) remained mum on where the Trudeaus stayed, photos posted to social media showed their relatives relaxing poolside at the Frankfort villa.

Owned by businessman Peter Green, accommodations at the secluded beachfront enclave came at no cost — countering a PMO claim that Trudeau would pay for his family’s stay.

In a request for comment by the National Post, the PMO clarified January 3 that no costs had been spared on accommodations between December 26 and January 4.

Their 5,000-square-foot, fully staffed villa offered six bedrooms with en suite bathrooms in two buildings, sleeping 12 guests. It also had a private swimming pool and hot tub mere steps from a private beach.

Typically renting at over $9,300 a night, the cost incurred to Canadians would have totalled $83,700 for their nine-night stay had a bill been issued.

Although the prime minister partially reimbursed the cost of his family’s flight from Ottawa to Jamaica, he did not cover operating and fuel costs for the government aircraft.

The Frankfort, one of five villas at the luxurious Prospect resort, can be rented out for a pretty penny — the same resort the Trudeaus vacationed last Christmas.

During their end-of-year trip to Prospect Estate in 2022, taxpayers received a $162,000 bill and climbing for their week-long trip to Jamaica, according to an order paper question posed by Conservative MP Luc Berthold. It excluded the fuel and operating costs of government aircraft.

As first reported by Rebel News last March, the costs for flights, security and accommodations for staff and the RCMP details assigned to the Trudeau family totalled over $200,000.

In April, the prime minister faced questions from Opposition parties about a potential conflict of interest over his trip to the Green family’s resort, given their past ties to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation.

In 2021, Green’s sons, Alexander and Andrew, funded a foundation scholarship honouring their late mother, Mary-Jean Mitchell Green.

The elder Green, a Bermuda hotel magnate, was also a dear friend to the prime minister’s late father, who he had named the godfather to Andrew.

The National Post also reported that Alexander Green read a brief prayer before Trudeau delivered his father’s eulogy in 2000.

Trudeau's Office did not confirm if the prime ministerdeclared last year’s trip as a gift under the Conflict of Interest Act or the code for MPs. The office of the conflict of interest nor the ethics commissioner commented on the matter.

However, concerns of another ethics violation have emerged after the prime minister violated conflict-of-interest rules in 2017 for vacationing at the Aga Khan's private island in the Bahamas, costing taxpayers more than $200,000 as well.

This time around, the PMO denied any conflict of interest granted that Trudeau has ceased involvement with the foundation since 2013, when he became Liberal Party leader.

They said new federal Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein okayed the trip in advance.

"As per standard practice, the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner was consulted on these details prior to the travel to ensure that the rules were followed," reads a text exchange between Trudeau’s office and the National Post.

Over the past year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has flaunted his disregard for the Canadian taxpayer by going on several all-inclusive vacations — costing over $678,000.

From April 6 to 10, the prime minister stayed in Bozeman and Big Sky, Montana, costing taxpayers nearly a quarter of a million dollars, as first reported by the CBC

The $228,839 price tag exceeded the federal figure tabled in Parliament, they said.

Trudeau, who separated from his wife Sophie Grégoire in August, later went on another family excursion to Torino, B.C., last August 10 to 18. It cost taxpayers $287,285, excluding accommodations which Trudeau had paid.

Alex Dhaliwal

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