(OTTAWA) The Prime Minister’s Office finally clarified that it was Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, who stayed in a $6,000-a-night hotel suite to attend Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in September II in London.
Their stay at the Corinthia Hotel had been the subject of public debate last fall, when the media pored over the details of the $400,000 trip, after obtaining documents through requests access to information.
But last month, Prime Minister Trudeau’s office and Global Affairs Canada would not say who exactly had stayed in the Corinthia suite, a stone’s throw from the Thames, which notably offers its guests butler service.
Opposition MPs who sit on the Commons Standing Committee on Government Operations last month requested a copy of all receipts and invoices associated with this official trip.
In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Office said hotel prices in London had risen significantly ahead of the funeral and many London hotels were sold out as 500 heads of state and their delegations traveled to the British capital.
The suite at the Corinthia was booked on September 9, a day after the Queen’s death, for a stay from September 15-20.
In November, during question period in the House, the Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre, had tried, without success, to find out from the Prime Minister who exactly had stayed in the suite.
A press secretary for Mr. Trudeau said Thursday that the death of the queen was “an important event for Canadians”.
