Canada’s Mark Carney used taxpayers’ cash to spend half a MILLION on plane food in his first year as PM

Fintan Starkey
Sun, 12 Apr 2026 13:05:10 +0000

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney accumulated a bill exceeding half a million dollars in taxpayer funds for in-flight catering during his inaugural year in office.

The former Bank of England governor is claimed to have spent £281,773 (Canadian $524,815) on refreshments across 28 official flights between March 2025 and February 2026.

The data emerged following questions tabled in the Canadian House of Commons.

Among the expenditure was £11,360 reportedly spent on catering for a two-hour journey to Washington DC in May, where Mr Carney held his first official meeting with President Donald Trump.

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The costliest journey proved to be a combined visit to the United Arab Emirates and the G20 summit in Johannesburg, where catering expenses reached £85,359.

A subsequent October trip saw approximately £9,033 spent on in-flight refreshments for 55 delegates aboard, roughly 11 times the fuel costs for that particular journey, the Toronto Sun reported.

Mr Carney's visit to Britain, during which he met His Majesty King Charles and Prime Minister Keir Starmer, carried a catering bill of £32,358.

A trip to the Vatican for Pope Leo XIV's inaugural mass is said to have cost £50,350 in refreshments.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has condemned the expenditure in stark terms.

Franco Terrazzano, the organisation's director, told the Toronto Sun: "Carney billed more money for airplane food in one year than an average Canadian family will spend on groceries in about 30 years."

He added: "I guess one way to beat the high cost of groceries in Canada is to take government work trips and bill taxpayers for expensive airplane food."

Canada's 2026 Food Price Report indicates that a typical family of four spends £9,434 annually on groceries, lending considerable weight to Mr Terrazzano's comparison.

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The Department of National Defence reportedly noted that catering costs encompass food, non-alcoholic beverages, handling fees, storage, waste disposal, airport taxes, and security charges.

Mr Carney's first twelve months as Canada's leader have been largely defined by his fractious relationship with the American president.

Mr Trump stoked trade war anxieties in February through a Truth Social post asserting that Canada had treated the United States unfairly for decades.

The Canadian prime minister subsequently apologised to Mr Trump over an anti-tariff television advertisement featuring remarks from former President Ronald Reagan, which had aired in America and prompted Trump to raise tariffs and suspend bilateral trade negotiations.

"I did apologise to the president," he acknowledged at an Asia-Pacific summit in South Korea.

Having succeeded Justin Trudeau last March, Mr Carney has pivoted towards strengthening relationships with South Africa, China and India.