Brief flights dominate final 30 days in Justin Trudeau’s flight habits
Of the 17 flights logged by the prime minister over the previous 30 days, 10 had been for flights underneath an hour
Article content material
The prime minister of Canada’s jet flew empty from Toronto to Waterloo on Friday to bypass the hour’s drive to catch his flight dwelling.
Commercial 2
Article content material
This was one of many highlights of the earlier 30 days of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s journey — spanning 16,000 kilometres throughout 17 journey days.
Of these 17 flights, 10 lasted lower than one hour.
The prime minister launched into two separate cross-country excursions whereas the home wasn’t in session all through February and March.
The primary tour kicked off Feb. 21 — lower than per week after getting back from final month’s CARICOM assembly within the Bahamas — taking him to Western Canada.
The PM’s most up-to-date tour started on Sunday, March 12, with a 22-minute flight from Ottawa to Montreal to attend personal conferences.
After a Monday spent delivering remarks and attending a city corridor in Montreal, the prime minister flew an hour east to Halifax, the place he toured a manufacturing unit and made an announcement with Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston.
Wednesday noticed Trudeau fly an hour east to St. John’s for an one other announcement and city corridor, adopted by a Thursday flight to Toronto, the place he attended the NAFTA Advisory council assembly and a night city corridor hosted by the Worldwide Affiliation of Firefighters.
After spending the night time in Toronto, the prime minister drove an hour west to Guelph on Friday, the place he made an announcement with Housing Minister Ahmed Hussen.
On the similar time Trudeau was fielding questions from reporters, the Royal Canadian Air Pressure crew in Toronto deadheaded the prime minister’s plane to Waterloo’s regional airport — a 10-minute, 65-kilometre flight — with the intention to take him again to Ottawa.
Commercial 3
Article content material
After spending the night time in Ottawa, the prime minister once more boarded Can Pressure One — this time to return to Toronto for an hour-long look to fulfill with schoolchildren and to commemorate Nowruz celebrations with the native Persian neighborhood.
After arriving in Toronto at 2:17 p.m. Sunday afternoon, the prime minister was again in his airplane for the 53-minute flight dwelling by 5 p.m.
Of the 17 flights logged by the prime minister over the previous 30 days, 10 had been for flights underneath an hour.
The longest flight — Ottawa to Vancouver on March 1 — clocked in at 4 hours and 54 minutes.
Not like different members of presidency and ministers who largely are inclined to fly commercially, Canada restricts the prime minister to army plane.
Article content material
Commercial 4
Article content material
The entire Trudeau’s flights over the previous 30 days happened aboard certainly one of 4 Bombardier Challenger 650 enterprise jets, operated by 412 Transport Squadron primarily based out of Ottawa airport.
For worldwide flights, the prime minister makes use of certainly one of a number of CC-150 Polaris transport planes — the army model of the venerable Airbus A310 airliner — flown by 437 Transport Squadron out of CFB Trenton.
Whereas the prime minister curtailed his journey throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, flight data present he logged 127,147 km within the 10 months after resuming journey in June, 2021 — the equal to a few journeys around the globe.
-
Justin Trudeau spent all however 11 days final month within the air
-
Ottawa asks FAA to dam army planes — together with PM and GG flights — from flight trackers
Commercial 5
Article content material
Final July, the Nationwide Put up reported the prime minister spent all however 11 days of the month within the air — together with a 5,500-km flight to spend six hours on the Calgary Stampede.
Enterprise jets are ceaselessly criticized for disproportionately excessive carbon emissions, in comparison with bigger airliners. The empty flight from Toronto to Waterloo got here simply days earlier than a UN local weather report painted the bleakest image but on the impacts of world warming.
In line with on-line calculators, the Challenger 650 enterprise jet emits roughly 3,150 kilograms of carbon dioxide per hour of use — with brief flights having a bigger internet influence than longer ones.
A report launched final 12 months by European NGO Transport & Setting highlighted the influence of personal plane on aviation emissions — concluding that roughly half of all plane emissions are generated by simply 1 per cent of individuals.
Commercial 6
Article content material
The identical report acknowledged that, per passenger, personal jets are as much as 14 instances extra polluting than business flights.
Citing safety issues, the federal authorities requested that authorities flights be added to the FAA’s necessary block record for flight monitoring web sites — primarily shielding official flights, together with these by the prime minister and governor common, from public view.
The choice to dam the flights was reversed three months later.
Through the 2019 election marketing campaign, Trudeau was criticized for leasing two plane for his cross-country marketing campaign tour — together with utilizing a 50-year-old Boeing 737-200 airliner as a cargo transporter, powered by engines that even within the Nineteen Sixties had been thought-about soiled gas-guzzlers.
Commercial 7
Article content material
PMO spokesperson Alison Murphy advised the Nationwide Put up that journey is a needed a part of the job.
“The prime minister travels the nation to fulfill with Canadians from huge cities to small cities to have face-to-face conversations with them, and listen to their issues and concepts,” she mentioned.
“As per long-standing authorities coverage and for safety causes, particular preparations should be made for the prime minister when he travels, whether or not on official or private enterprise.”
Murphy described the federal government’s motion on local weather change as “historic,” together with a dedication to transform authorities operations to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Invites for remark by the Nationwide Put up to the Inexperienced Celebration and the federal New Democrats went unacknowledged.
Commercial 8
Article content material
As nicely, environmental teams contacted by the Nationwide Put up — together with the David Suzuki Basis, Greenpeace, Environmental Defence, Équiterre and the Sierra Membership of Canada — both declined remark or didn’t acknowledge the request.
When requested for remark, the Conservative Celebration of Canada pointed to remarks made March 14 by Chief Pierre Poilievre.
“Justin Trudeau likes to lecture folks about driving an excessive amount of or heating their dwelling. He hits them with a carbon tax to punish them for that, and but he jets round greater than some other prime minister to go on browsing journeys and to go to the Caribbean in the midst of the summer time,” Poilievre mentioned throughout a press convention in New Westminster, B.C.
“He’s utterly out of contact and Canadians are utterly out of cash.”
• E-mail: [email protected] | Twitter: bryanpassifiume
Feedback
Postmedia is dedicated to sustaining a energetic however civil discussion board for dialogue and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Feedback might take as much as an hour for moderation earlier than showing on the location. We ask you to maintain your feedback related and respectful. Now we have enabled e-mail notifications—you’ll now obtain an e-mail for those who obtain a reply to your remark, there’s an replace to a remark thread you comply with or if a person you comply with feedback. Go to our Group Pointers for extra data and particulars on easy methods to regulate your e-mail settings.
Be part of the Dialog