MPs to grill Rideau Hall, government officials again over ‘misleading’ testimony on GG’s $100K in-flight catering tab

OTTAWA — MPs want to drag officials from Rideau Hall and the federal government back to committee to grill them on “misleading” testimony on the nearly $100,000 in-flight catering tab for an eight-day governor general trip in the spring.

“We want the truth, plain and simple,” Bloc Québécois Julie Vignola said in an interview. “They misled us… It was disinformation by omission.”

Tuesday, she tabled a motion at the Government Estimates committee compelling senior government officials to testify for up to three days regarding the cost of the now-notorious eight-day Dubai 2020 expo trip last March. The motion also calls on the committee to study all travel expenses abroad by Rideau Hall since 2015.

Conservatives and the NDP told the National Post they intend to support the motion on Thursday. A Liberal MP on the committee did not respond to emailed questions on Wednesday, but comments from government MPs on the committee Tuesday seemed to indicate they support the request.

The motion stems from testimony opposition MPs now call “misleading” by senior government and Rideau Hall as well as the commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) two weeks ago at the committee about the “unacceptable” catering costs for the Dubai trip.

Documents tabled in Parliament in June and first reported by the National Post show that Gov. Gen. Mary Simon and her 29 guests racked up a $93,117.89 catering bill during the eight-day trip that made various stops in Europe and the Middle East.

Speaking to the committee in September, Canada’s head of protocol, Stewart Wheeler, admitted that some of the costs — which were criticized by MPs of all parties — were “problematic.” He said the government had since launched a review to make sure it never happens again.

But officials also downplayed any accusation that the meals were lavish or luxurious, telling MPs that they were no different than regular Air Canada flight fare.

“The costs were really shocking to all of us. We had eggs! We had omelettes!” said Christine MacIntyre, the deputy secretary to the Office of the Governor General’s secretary.

Officials also repeatedly told MPs that they could not provide them with receipts for the trip at the time because they were not immediately available.

But the same day, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation provided all the trip’s catering receipts obtained via an access to information request to the National Post. MPs say those receipts tell a very different story than the officials’ testimony.

In a story published the following day, National Post reported that there were indeed omelettes or crêpes for one breakfast (or a china-plated masala omelette with chicken sausages and sautéed potatoes for the governor general and her husband), but there were also meals of beef wellington, beef carpaccio and “apple and cranberry stuffed pork tenderloin, served with oven roasted cubed squash, sautéed brussel sprouts, with a maple gravy.”

“We were told (they were) the same meals we get on Air Canada, and that’s certainly not the case,” a furious Conservative MP Kelly McCauley said in an interview. “That’s why I asked if it was filet mignon, and they said, ‘no, it’s regular food!’ Well, beef wellington is not regular food.”

In a separate interview, Vignola wondered, “How is it possible for them to tell us, to our face, throughout the meeting that they don’t have the numbers, that they will send them later, that they only ate omelettes and nothing extraordinary? But at the same time, (the National Post) has the numbers and we don’t, and we still don’t have them.”

“It’s beyond abnormal,” she added.

MPs also have serious questions about the total cost. The day after reports of the $93,000 tab, the Department of National Defence, which oversees catering on government flights, said the real cost for food on the plane was closer to $80,000.

Quizzed by Conservative MP Kelly McCauley at committee in September, RCAF Commander Lt.-Gen. Eric Kenny insisted the final catering cost was indeed $80,367, though there were “additional costs beyond that, outside of catering.”

He also told Liberal MP Anthony Housefather that DND could not break down the total amount that went toward food versus administrative and airport costs. “The reality is the catering companies don’t break that down for us. In fact, they don’t necessarily break down the cost per menu either,” Kenny said.

Some catering receipts seemingly fly in the face of those statements.

A tabulation of receipt totals reveals the cost to taxpayers was between $97,000 to $99,000 (depending partly on conversion rates).

Furthermore, the documents show a few itemized receipts that contain total prices per item or meal (though nearly all quantities were redacted by the government).

The only line item where the quantity was unredacted showed taxpayers forked over 75 euros ($110 at the time) for four litres of apple juice.

Receipts also show the government paid nearly $1,000 total for lemons and limes throughout the trip, as well as 90 British pounds ($133.04) payment for two kilograms of ice, and 188 euros ($247) for a “special request” of arugula and wild rice salad (which led to a $329.22 “concierge fee” because it required a shopping trip to purchase ingredients).

National Post, with additional reporting by Bryan Passifiume