Rowe Criticizes Carney's Trip Catering Spending

Conservative MP Jonathan Rowe questions the cost of in-flight meals on the prime minister's nine-day trip to Qatar, China and Switzerland.

Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Business Travel

Gouache-painted editorial illustration of a covered silver dish and white plate on an aircraft tray table beside a sunlit cabin window. — Conservative MP Jonathan Rowe criticized Prime Minister Mark Carney's $175,000 in-flight catering spending on a nine-day trip to Qatar, China and Switzerland. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Conservative MP Jonathan Rowe criticized Prime Minister Mark Carney's spending on in-flight catering during a nine-day trip to Qatar, China and Switzerland. In-flight catering aboard CANFORCE ONE cost $175,000, according to documents obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

Why it matters

The figures put a spotlight on how public money is spent on the prime minister's travel abroad, a recurring point of debate over government accountability. Government House Leader Steve MacKinnon responded that Rowe and his colleagues should join Liberals in building up Canada.

Documents obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation show $175,000 in in-flight catering and over $223,000 in Royal Canadian Air Force fuel costs for the nine-day trip. The source does not provide a comparison with previous trips or explain whether the spending is under review.

The players

Jonathan Rowe

Jonathan Rowe is the Conservative MP for The Eastern Peninsulas in Newfoundland and Labrador and raised the catering spending in the House of Commons.

Mark Carney

Mark Carney is the Prime Minister of Canada, a former central banker who led the Bank of England and the Bank of Canada.

Steve MacKinnon

Steve MacKinnon is the Government House Leader in Canada's federal government and responded to Rowe's criticism on behalf of the Liberals.

Canadian Taxpayers Federation

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is a national advocacy group that campaigns for lower taxes and government spending accountability and obtained the travel documents.

The details

Rowe raised the spending on the floor of the House of Commons, pointing to meals that included beef tenderloin, veal, salmon, bass and desserts. The trip included stops in Qatar, China and Switzerland.

The nine-day trip to Qatar, China and Switzerland took place on dates not specified in the source.
Rowe raised the criticism in the House of Commons, as reported in the article published November 2, 2026.

Travel Outlook

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has regularly used access-to-information requests to examine federal travel costs, and these catering and fuel figures extend that pattern to the prime minister's overseas trips. The disclosure places the Carney government's travel spending within an ongoing public debate over how much taxpayers should bear for official journeys.

The disclosed figures show that official travel costs can run to six figures for a single trip, which is useful context for anyone tracking public spending on government travel. Readers following the issue can watch for further access-to-information releases that may show how these costs compare with other trips.

The takeaway

Travel costs for official trips can be substantial and are often revealed only through document requests, so public scrutiny depends on those disclosures. Anyone interested in government spending can track similar releases to judge how travel budgets are managed.