By Isaac Lamoureux
Canadian taxpayers had to pay nearly half a million dollars so the Liberal cabinet could gather for an “affordability” retreat last summer which produced no new plans for the economy.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) received government records showing that the retreat cost taxpayers at least $412,000. Following that, data from online proactive disclosures and answers to order paper questions by the National Post revealed on Monday that the bill for the retreat had risen to $485,196.
The costs could be higher as some receipts are still outstanding, and various departments did not disclose their expenses related to the retreat.
From August 21 to 23, 2023, Trudeau and his cabinet convened at a waterfront hotel in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. The retreat focused on addressing the affordability and housing challenges confronting Canadians.
“Spending more than four hundred grand on a three-day retreat to tackle affordability is tone-deaf and unacceptable,” said Franco Terrazzano, the CTF’s federal director, in a press release.
“It seems like the Trudeau government’s only solution on affordability is to waste other people’s money flying around the country talking to each other,” added Terrazzano. “It’s a shame they don’t have offices in Ottawa, or Zoom accounts, so they could do some of this work without spending thousands of dollars.”