Committee calls interim ethics watchdog amid Trudeau Jamaica trip scrutiny

Canada’s interim ethics commissioner was summoned on Wednesday to appear at the House of Commons ethics committee amid scrutiny about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s holiday in Jamaica.

Konrad von Finckenstein will appear at the committee at the earliest opportunity once the House of Commons resumes following winter break on Jan. 29.

MPs on the committee requested a meeting during the break to potentially study the trip. Conservative MPs Michael Barrett, Jacques Gourde and Damien Kurek and Bloc Québécois MP Rene Villemure said in a letter to the committee’s chair that Trudeau’s vacation to the Caribbean nation raises “red flags” under Canada’s ethics rules.

“This isn’t a question about a prime minister being deserving of a vacation or anyone being deserving of a vacation if they’re able to afford,” Barrett told MPs on the committee Wednesday.

“The problem is that the first answer that the Prime Minister’s Office gave to Canadians about this was that the prime minister was paying for the vacation, and it wasn’t until media followed up and learned about the cost of the destination and asked who was paying for it. The answer was that, in fact, the prime minister was not paying for this.”

The motion passed on Wednesday is to have von Finckenstein talk about rules around gifts, vacation and travel in the Conflict of Interest Act and the code for public office holders.

A motion to request all materials regarding the prime minister’s two trips to Jamaica be filed with the committee was voted down by the Liberals and NDP.

The Tories have called for an investigation into Trudeau’s trip to Jamaica with his three children and former spouse Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau.

Trudeau returned to Ottawa to face similar criticism for staying at an