She will have to answer questions, Rodriguez said Wednesday before heading to a Liberal caucus meeting.
This is also the opinion of the Bloc Québécois, which has signaled its intention to submit a request to the parliamentary committee on public finances so that Ms Simon can come and testify to make statements.
The bill would have reached $93,117.89, according to comments by a Conservative MP, reported by The National Post.
These catering services would have been offered aboard the Airbus CC-150 Polaris that transported Ms Simon and her team between March 16 and 24.
Meal costs also include the cost of non-alcoholic beverages and incidentals, it said. Associated costs include additional goods and services such as meal management and delivery, storage, disposables, airport fees, administrative fees, security fees and local taxes, according to a document prepared by the Department of Defense.
The Governor General traveled to the United Arab Emirates for the World Expo, which was held in Dubai from October 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022.
When asked by journalists if he thought these expenses were reasonable, Mr. Rodriguez avoided answering, saying he didn’t have all the details.
“I don’t know what the context is, like a lot of people. She must answer, that’s for sure. »
— A quote from Pablo Rodriguez, Canadian Heritage Minister
According to the parliamentary document, 16 passengers accompanied the governor-general. This does not apply to members of the security services or the Canadian armed forces.
News of the staggering cost sent the block into a frenzy, and their house manager, Alain Therrien, said he and his colleagues were genuinely stunned and outraged.
Valuable taxpayers’ money was being spent in a casual manner by this governor-general who, I would say, quickly developed the reflex to spend other people’s money, which he triggered before moving on to the period of questions.
The Bloc Québécois would like Ms Simon to be summoned to the Audit Committee as soon as possible for explanations.
National defense responsibility, says OSGG
For its part, the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General (OSGG) said in an email to The Canadian Press that the expenses in question were not a decision by Ms Simon.
The Canadian Forces are responsible for transportation during these visits and are therefore responsible for all catering decisions on these flights, it said.
The OSGG adds that the governor-general shares public concerns about the spending and is awaiting clarification from departments. These would be the Ministries of National Defense and Foreign Affairs.
Despite these claims from his team, Mr Therrien maintains that Ms Simon must come and explain herself to MPs in committee.
If National Defense happily funded it then we’ll go elsewhere later, but it’s whoever spent the money and has the responsibility to come and tell us why they did it I believe.
The speaker of the House of Representatives did not fail to point out that the Bloc Québécois wants the office of governor-general to be abolished, as this role is useless.