Quebec Premier François Legault’s attendance at the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral reopening in early December came with a price tag of $35,000.
According to the premier’s office, the amount covered transportation — including flights and cars — lodging, and other accommodations for Legault and three delegates. Legault used his time in Paris to rub elbows with the likes of US President-elect Donald Trump, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In October, the government spent another $233,300 to send Legault and Martine Biron, the Minister responsible for international relations and the French language, to Paris for six days for the Sommet de la Francophonie. The amount also accounts for the 10 delegates the ministers brought along with them.
During the summit, Legault schmoozed with French politicians and business leaders, spoke to UNESCO ambassadors about making digital French-language cultural content accessible, and “consolidated Quebec’s political and economic ties with the other 92 member states and governments of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF),” according to his office.
Meanwhile, Biron co-chaired a meeting with the Office franco-québécois pour la jeunesse’s board of directors and participated in talks to reiterate Quebec’s ongoing commitment and support for projects implemented by the OIF to promote the French language.
The premier’s office said it proactively published the travel costs on Friday to ensure transparency.
Nicolas Gagnon, the Quebec director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said the big bills are worth a closer look. He said spending $35,000 on a one-night stay for three people is “obviously a lot of money.”
“We don’t know where they stayed, and what they ate, and obviously, who was with them, and what kind of accommodation was paid for,” he said, adding that there were surely ways to cut costs.
However, Gagnon said he understands the importance of the “geopolitical context where Legault really wanted to meet other world leaders” like Trump at a critical time and that “there could be a return for taxpayers for this kind of event.”
Gagnon said he takes a bigger issue with the money spent on the October summit.
“We spent over $233,000 for a delegation of 13 people for six days. That makes no sense, that should have been cut by half,” he said.
It’s worth asking why there were so many delegates on that trip and what Quebecers will get out of it in the long term, he added.
“We don’t exactly know how the summit will benefit both francophonie itself in Quebec or abroad,” said Gagnon.
“Are those travels really necessary all the time? Yes, on some occasions, like the Notre-Dame de Paris opening, there’s a context for that … but the other travels, it’s worth asking if there were other ways to hold those summits or to attend them, maybe virtually.”
