MPs probing PM's Jamaican holiday vote to examine rules on MPs and personal gifts

MPs on Parliament's ethics committee examining Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Christmas holiday in Jamaica have voted to take a closer look at the rules that govern gifts and travel that members of Parliament are allowed to accept.

Committee members voted to call interim Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein to testify. While the motion refers to the rules regarding gifts, vacations and travel, it doesn't prevent MPs from grilling the ethics commissioner on Trudeau's trip to Jamaica and whether his office intends to investigate it.

The committee rejected a bid by Conservative MP Michael Barrett to call on the government to produce documents about the trip. Barrett argued the documents would shed light on contradictory answers provided by the Prime Minister's Office about the arrangements for the trip. His proposal was rejected by Liberal, Bloc Québécois and NDP MPs on the committee.

The call for the committee to hear from the interim ethics commissioner comes after Trudeau and his family vacationed in Jamaica for the second Christmas holiday in a row.

News reports indicated that he was staying with family friend and businessman Peter Green at the luxurious Prospect Estate resort. Market rates for that resort indicate the stay could be worth as much as $84,000.

Speaking to reporters in Saint John, N.B. earlier Wednesday, Trudeau said that like other Canadian families, his family stayed with friends over the holidays. He said that all of the ethics rules were followed.

Trudeau's overseas vacations have at times been controversial. A trip to visit the Aga Khan on a private island in 2016 resulted in a finding by former ethics commissioner Mary Dawson that he had violated ethics rules that prohibit