$736K jet charter to Egypt was “lowest-cost option:” defence minister

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OTTAWA — The PMO’s decision to spend nearly three quarters of a million dollars on private jet charters so Mark Carney could attend October’s Gaza peace treaty signing was the “lowest-cost option,” according to Canada’s defence minister.

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In a statement to the Toronto Sun, the office of David McGuinty said figures in government documents suggesting the same journey would have only cost $198,800 — had an RCAF aircraft been available — don’t tell the whole story.

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“The $198,800 figure referenced via order paper was a theoretical estimate based on a 14-hour, two-way flight at an hourly operating cost of $7,100,” said spokesperson Alice Hansen.

“The Challenger aircraft is unable to safely fly for 14 hours at once without refuelling and changing staff.”

The round-trip flight from Ottawa to Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt cost $736,466.11 to charter a Bombardier Global 5000 business Jet from Chartright Air Group, according to a response to an order paper question.

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Last-minute decision to go

The Privy Council Office says the decision to send Carney to Egypt to witness the U.S.-backed peace treaty was made the day before the event, and a little over 10 hours before the prime minister departed Ottawa.

While an RCAF CC-144 Challenger crew was available, an aircraft was not.

“In this case, most crews were already committed, and while a Challenger crew was available, the aircraft could not meet the itinerary requirements,” the response read.

“There were also not enough crews for the larger Airbus aircraft because they were assigned to other missions, training, or rest.”

RCAF Challenger would have required multiple crews

In order for a Challenger to facilitate the flight, Hansen said, a second crew was needed to take over during a European refuelling stop.

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“Not only would this have resulted in a more expensive trip, it would have required the second flight crew to travel to Scotland in advance and rest before flying to Egypt,” she said.

“Practically speaking, this alternative was impossible to execute and would not have allowed the Prime Minister to attend the Middle East Peace Summit with his international counterparts.”

Canada, who played no role in the Oct. 13 Gaza peace accords, was one of 30 nations and international organizations attending the signing.

Canada needs to find cheaper travel options

As for $736,466.11 being the “lowest-cost option,” Franco Terrazzano, Federal Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, isn’t buying it.

“Nobody outside of the Ottawa bubble believes the government couldn’t send PM Carney overseas for less than $730K,” he told the Toronto Sun.

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“And if that is the cheapest option for the government, that’s a real problem and the government needs to figure out international trips for a lot less money, because this is getting ridiculous.”

While Canadian prime ministers customary rely on the RCAF to transport them by air, this isn’t universal around the world.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, like her predecessors, regularly book commercial flights to get around, as did numerous UK prime ministers, including David Cameron and Boris Johnson.

Cameron made headlines in 2010 when he flew British Airways to attend his first bilateral meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama — both to cut official travel costs and to set an example.

Former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte also shunned official travel and was well known for flying economy class on commercial flights.

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Both the President and Prime Minister of Singapore also use commercial flights for transportation, as does the leaders of Austria, Finland and New Zealand.

PM a frequent flier

In his first eight months as prime minister, Carney logged 153,000 km of airtime across 28 trips.

His predecessor, Justin Trudeau, was also a copious user of government aircraft, flying 92,000 km in three months during the summer of 2024.

“Carney sold Canadians on this idea that he was different than Trudeau — but billing taxpayers a ton of money for international fights is straight from Trudeau’s playbook,” Terrazzano said.

“What actual value do taxpayers get from this $700,000 trip, because it looks like it was an expensive photo op.”

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume

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