Trudeau stayed in $6,000 London hotel suite for Queen Elizabeth II's funeral
Trudeau stayed in $6,000 London hotel suite for Queen Elizabeth II's funeral
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau arrive at Westminster Abbey ahead of the State Funeral of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, in London, Monday Sept. 19, 2022. (Jack Hill/Pool Photo via AP)
OTTAWA -
The Prime Minister's Office says Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, stayed in a $6,000 per night hotel suite while attending the funeral for Queen Elizabeth II.
The stay at the Corinthia London hotel became the subject of public debate last fall when media honed in on the details of the $400,000 trip, after obtaining documents through access-to-information requests.
But Trudeau's office and Global Affairs Canada did not respond to questions last month about who stayed in the expensive river suite, which features a butler service.
Opposition MPs on the government operations committee asked for a copy of all receipts and invoices associated with the trip last month.
The room was booked on Sept. 9, one day after the Queen's death, for Sept. 15 to 20.
In a statement, the Prime Minister's Office says hotel prices surged significantly ahead of the funeral, and many London hotels were sold out as 500 heads of state and their delegations descended on the city.
The hotel's website currently lists the suite at 5,154 British pounds per night, higher than the 4,800 pounds the government was charged in September.
A night in the river suite next month would come out to more than $8,000 at the current exchange rate.
The Prime Minister's Office did not immediately respond to questions about the higher prices and why the government chose this particular hotel.
Documents released through access-to-information requests note that the booking was for a three-bed suite. The hotel's website says it has one king-sized bed but there are "connecting rooms available on request."
In November, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre peppered Trudeau with questions in the House of Commons about who stayed in the suite, but he didn't answer.
"The death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was a significant event for Canadians. Canada was represented by former prime ministers and governors general to pay their respects to the monarch who oversaw almost half of Canada’s time as an independent country," said a press secretary for Trudeau in a written statement Thursday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 23, 2023.
A New Democrat MP is trying to convince his colleagues to change the rules that govern the House of Commons in a series of ways he says would instill 'democratic controls' on the prime minister's 'unfettered' powers.
Monday morning, the Public Service Alliance of Canada announced it had reached a 'tentative' agreement with the federal government for the 120,000 picketing Treasury Board workers who, since April 19, had been engaged in one of the largest strikes in Canadian history. Here's a rundown of the developments from Parliament Hill as they happened.
The House committee studying foreign election interference heard from top 2019 and 2021 Liberal and Conservative campaign directors on Tuesday, with party officials from both camps speaking about the need for politicians to come together to address any "legislative gaps" ahead of the next vote.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
U.S President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have announced updates on a number of cross-border issues, after a day of meetings on Parliament Hill.
Danielle Smith's win in the Alberta election hands her the most starkly divided province confronting any premier in Canada, writes commentator Don Martin.
Special rapporteur David Johnston didn't recommend public inquiry knowing it was a pathetically insufficient response for a foreign democratic assault of this magnitude, writes Don Martin in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca.
To frame a few new illustrations on pages tucked inside a passport as proof of a Liberal plot to purge the Canadian historical record seems like a severe stretch, writes Don Martin in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino is a bright former federal prosecutor, who was destined to be a star in Justin Trudeau's cabinet. But in an opinion column on CTVNews.ca, Don Martin argues Mendicino has taken a stunning fall from grace, stumbling badly on important issues just 18 months into the job.
It's the most peculiar of elections with the frontrunner and her main opponent being the same person, writes columnist Don Martin. 'In the looming Alberta showdown, it's Premier Danielle Smith versus her mouth.'
Paul Bernardo should be returned to a maximum-security prison, the lawyer representing the families of his young murder victims said as he called on the Correctional Service of Canada to be more transparent about what led to his transfer to a medium-security facility in the first place.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is scheduled to provide an update on the wildfires that have forced thousands of people from their homes and caused widespread property damage in several provinces.
Newly released documents say the intelligence community's relationship with its key watchdog has been particularly strained over the last year due to a 'level of resistance' to scrutiny.
Special teams played a difference on Sunday night as the United States scored two short-handed goals en route to a 6-1 victory over Canada in the World Para Hockey Championship gold-medal game.
Prince Harry's a no-show in court, police in Quebec identify a victim of a tragic fishing incident, and federal officials to provide a wildfires update.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is scheduled to provide an update on the wildfires that have forced thousands of people from their homes and caused widespread property damage in several provinces.
Air quality remains a concern in regions throughout Quebec, including the Greater Montreal area which is currently under a smog warning. Environment and Climate Change Canada issued smog warnings for the Greater Montreal Area, and special air quality statements are in effect for large portions of the province due to the growing number of forest fires.
Quebec provincial police (SQ) have identified the adult victim of a fishing incident that claimed five lives over the weekend, most of them children. Keven Girard, 37, was among a group of 11 people swept up by the tide late Friday night while fishing along the shore in Portneuf-sur-Mer, a village about 550 kilometres northeast of Montreal.
France will be sending firefighters to aid Quebec as the province continues to battle massive forest fires, French President Emmanuel Macron announced.
Several survivors of the train derailment in India, which killed 275 people and injured hundreds, say they are still struggling to comprehend the disaster.
The derailment in eastern India that killed 275 people and injured hundreds was caused by an error in the electronic signalling system that led a train to wrongly change tracks and crash into a freight train, officials said Sunday.
The body of one of three men who had been missing after the partial collapse of an apartment building in Davenport, Iowa, has been found, a city official confirmed Sunday.
Moscow officials claimed that Ukrainian forces were making a major effort to punch through Russian defensive lines in southeast Ukraine for a second day Monday. Kyiv authorities didn't confirm the attacks and suggested the claim was a Russian misinformation ruse.
At least 15 people have died and another eight are missing after heavy rains unleased widespread flooding and several landslides across Haiti over the weekend, authorities said Sunday.
A wayward and unresponsive business plane that flew over the nation's capital Sunday afternoon caused the military to scramble a fighter jet before the plane crashed in Virginia, officials said. The fighter jet caused a loud sonic boom that was heard across the capital region.
Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says the federal government is not ruling out finding ways to achieve net zero sooner than the existing 2050 goal, but would not say whether there would be a definitive commitment to move up the target.
Newly released documents say the intelligence community's relationship with its key watchdog has been particularly strained over the last year due to a 'level of resistance' to scrutiny.
Jenny Kwan has been outspoken against human-rights violations by the Chinese Communist Party and often advocates for the country's Uyghur Muslim minority. The Hong Kong-born member of Parliament said in an interview with The Canadian Press that that's what made her an 'evergreen' target of the Chinese government.
The number of people in Canada with inflammatory bowel disease is increasing rapidly and is expected to grow to 470,000 by 2035, according to a new report from Crohn's and Colitis Canada.
New study finds increase in antipsychotic drugs use in long-term care homes across Canada, despite no significant increase in behavioural symptoms – something that may expose a potential area of concern for quality of care, researchers say.
Apple appears poised to unveil a long-rumoured headset that will place its users between the virtual and real world, while also testing the technology trendsetter's ability to popularize new-fangled devices after others failed to capture the public's imagination.
The Nova Scotia government says it is investigating the theft of personal information stolen through a global privacy breach to a third-party file transfer system the province was using.
Constructed by a team at London, Ont.’s Western University, a tiny satellite — roughly the size of a Rubik’s cube — will ride aboard a SpaceX mission bound for the International Space Station.
'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse' opened in U.S. and Canadian theatres with a massive US$120.5 million, more than tripling the debut of the 2018 animated original and showing the kind of movie-to-movie box-office growth that would be the envy of even the mightiest of Hollywood franchises.
Many big companies, including Target and Bud Light's parent, are still backing Pride events in June despite the minefield that the monthlong celebration has become for some of them.
World stocks and Wall Street futures rose Monday after U.S. jobs data suggested a recession might be farther off while at the same time inflation pressures are weakening.
Apple appears poised to unveil a long-rumoured headset that will place its users between the virtual and real world, while also testing the technology trendsetter's ability to popularize new-fangled devices after others failed to capture the public's imagination.
Jessica Tuomela is a swimmer and triathlete, and has been on the podium at the Paralympics, but says the feeling returning a missing person home safely is no comparison.
Special teams played a difference on Sunday night as the United States scored two short-handed goals en route to a 6-1 victory over Canada in the World Para Hockey Championship gold-medal game.
Gabe Vincent scored 23 points, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo each had 21 and the Miami Heat evened up the NBA Finals by overcoming a monster effort from Nikola Jokic to beat the Denver Nuggets 111-108 in Game 2 on Sunday night.
The joy Paul Maurice felt on the morning of the start of the Stanley Cup Final was also tinged with sadness. The veteran coach knew there were only at most seven more games left to play.
The prospect of Fernando Alonso ending a decade-long wait for his 33rd Formula One win in front of tens of thousands of fans at his home race proved too good to be true on Sunday.
Max Verstappen had warned that his Red Bull team was good enough to win every single race of the Formula One season. On Sunday he took one more step toward that ambitious sweep by easing to victory at the Spanish Grand Prix.
America apparently needs more car seats. So, when Volkswagen unveiled the ID. Buzz, a retro-styled electric van, last year, it noted that the version for the North American market would be longer and would have three rows of seats.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau arrive at Westminster Abbey ahead of the State Funeral of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, in London, Monday Sept. 19, 2022. (Jack Hill/Pool Photo via AP)
