Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): You get another opportunity, Senator Gold.

Government leader, recently we learned of the bill that taxpayers will be footing for Canada’s delegation to Her Majesty the Queen’s funeral. I had to rub my eyes a few times to make sure I was seeing things properly, because the cost of hotel rooms alone is reflected at just shy of $400,000. This includes charges from the Corinthia Hotel in London. The bill for the hotel reflects a charge of £4,800 per night for the River Suite, which works out to more than $6,000 per night for five nights. I wonder who was staying in that room.

Leader, I’m old enough to remember the pushback directed at former Conservative minister Bev Oda over a $16 glass of orange juice in 2012. In fact, the current Prime Minister himself was calling for Minister Oda to resign at that time. Senator Gold, is there a reason that the bill was so high other than the fact that this Prime Minister thinks he’s above any sort of accountability to taxpayers?