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Justin Trudeau still receives RCMP protection on personal trips: report
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Justin Trudeau’s post-political life has taken him from Davos to Saint-Tropez, Japan to San Francisco, and a host of other destinations this past year — and an RCMP security detail has likely been along for many of the trips.
Sources familiar with security arrangements told Quebecor Media’s TVA Nouvelles and Journal de Montréal that the 54-year-old continues to receive regular protection from the federal police force, including while he travels for personal reasons.
The sources did not specify which trips involved RCMP officers and the RCMP would not “confirm or deny” whether Trudeau — or any other former prime minister — is currently under its protection.
“Given the evolving threat environment and operational and security considerations related to protective policing, the RCMP does not disclose costs, staffing levels, deployment details or other information that could reveal or facilitate inferences about the protective arrangements made for an individual,” the organization told National Post via email.
“Protective decisions are based strictly on assessed security needs, not personal preferences or activities.”
But according to Quebecor Media’s sources, three or four officers are required for some of Trudeau’s excursions.
This means that when he vacationed with his kids in Switzerland and Italy last summer, when he accepted an award from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs last fall, and when he spoke at an event parallel to the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, his detail was likely present.
It also means they’ve probably been around to witness his relationship with American pop-star girlfriend Katy Perry bloom.
Since they were first linked last summer, their increasingly public relationship has included a sojourn to Paris to celebrate her 41st birthday in October, a Christmas rendezvous in Japan for a photo op with a former prime minister of that country, and trips to California this spring — including their highly publicized attendance at Coachella music festival.
This summer, Trudeau has been documented backstage at a handful of her European festival appearances and the pair were most recently photographed vacationing in the south of France.
Another TVA source said that attending concerts would require “scouting that is done beforehand to assess threats on site.”
Former RCMP deputy commissioner Pierre-Yves Bourduas, now president of the Ottawa-based consulting firm P-Y Public Safety Management Inc., told the Journal that a “hectic love life can create headaches” for the officers tasked with Trudeau’s protection.
Again, there’s no way of knowing for certain whether a security detail was nearby in any of those instances. But when they are, their salaries — along with any overtime — and all travel expenses come from the RCMP’s taxpayer-funded budget.
Those wondering why he can’t simply avail of the private security Perry likely uses, Bourduas said those professionals have a “different mandate” than would the RCMP detail.
“Katy Perry’s protection cannot be relied upon,” he said.“We must take full responsibility for the protection of the former prime minister.”
Another security expert told the Journal the singer’s own high profile introduces another element to the security equation.
“When a protected personality is associated with a celebrity of this stature, this is one of the factors that must be analyzed,” said Leader Security & Protection agency president Mamadou Diarra.
As it happens, Trudeau’s father, the late Pierre Trudeau, Canada’s 15th prime minister, was the first former head of government to be offered protective services after he left politics.
Documents obtained by The Canadian Press in 2023 reveal that the RCMP was concerned about potential long-term threats against him because “his perceived aloof personality, provocative political style and stance on several domestic and international issues elicited strong emotive reactions from Canadians of all political stripe.”
“The prime minister has initiated legislation, formed government policy and expressed views on many issues that continue to aggravate, embitter or irritate sectors of the Canadian public,” the April 25, 1984 document reads.
He and his family were afforded 24-7 security as they transitioned from life at 24 Sussex in Ottawa to private life in Montreal. It ended in 1985, after which the security was granted for specific events or when a credible threat was received.
This became the standard and, according to the Ottawa Citizen , subsequent outgoing prime ministers were offered the same services upon their departure. Among those who took advantage were the late Brian Mulroney, Jean Chrétien, and Stephen Harper, though it’s not immediately clear how often or if the latter two continue to use them.
Joe Clark and John Turner both said no, and it’s unclear if Kim Campbell or Paul Martin availed.
While Justin Trudeau was in office, the cost to protect he and his family reached more than $30 million annually near the end of his run, CBC reported in 2023, more than twice as much as Chrétien and Martin’s protection, even when adjusted for inflation.
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