PM Trudeau faces heat for $6,000 night hotel stay for Queen’s funeral
News that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife stayed in a $6,000 a night hotel during the Queen’s funeral was not sitting well with many Canadians, who felt the news was initially swept over.
The Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that Trudeau, along with his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, stayed at the pricey Corinthia London hotel while attending the funeral for Queen Elizabeth II last fall.
The details surrounding the trip were revealed by the media through access-to-information requests. In total, the trip cost $400,000. The PMO nor Global Affairs Canada initially did not respond to requests for comments about the stay in the suite, which included butler service.
However, the PMO has since released a statement saying that hotel prices spiked drastically in light of the funeral, and that many were sold out as a result of so many heads of state and their delegations attending the event in the city.
The news is unsettling for many on social media, with some wondering why it took so long to confirm this information.
Others wondered if the news was meant as a deflection from other issues, like the reports that Liberal MP Han Dong had been involved with Chinese political interference. Dong has since stepped away from the party to sit as an independent.
Some Canadians were understanding, given exchange rates and price hikes.
Nelson Wiseman, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Toronto, says the reaction to the price tag of the hotel room is overblown.
The cost of Trudeau flying there and back was probably a lot more. What did other heads of government and heads of state pay for their rooms? Find two or three who paid less or paid more and compare it to that.Nelson Wiseman, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Toronto
He added that it’s “loose change in a budget of hundreds of billions.”
“How often does Canada’s head of state die? The last time was 1952,” he says.
On Thursday, a press secretary for the Prime Minister said the Queen’s death was “a significant event for Canadians.”