Debate at the Nova Scotia legislature Tuesday afternoon took a turn when interim Liberal Leader Derek Mombourquette brought up a cabinet minister’s recent trip south of the border.
‘The minister spent time at the Donald Trump inauguration and he spent $3,000 of taxpayers’ dollars to do it,” he said.
Scott Armstrong, Minister of Opportunities and Social Development, defended his January trip — saying he was advocating for Nova Scotian jobs amid tariff threats from the United States at the time.
“I was proud to do that,” responded Armstrong.
“I was working on behalf of Nova Scotia and I’m convinced that we need to do more of that to express our views and get more support as we take on Donald Trump and his tariffs.”
After question period, Armstrong told reporters although he had a ticket to the inauguration, he wasn’t able to attend the event once it was moved indoors due to the weather.
He said he spent most of his time in DC at the Canadian embassy instead.
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“I wish I could have gone to the actual inauguration, but the real work was done at the Canadian embassy, where all the stakeholders were. And that’s the important relationships you can develop,” he said.
He said he was able to secure a ticket through pre-existing connections in South Carolina and was working in conjunction with the premier’s office because they needed someone to attend the event.
According to an expense report filed by Armstrong, the trip cost a total of $3,288.
NDP Leader Claudia Chender labelled the trip “misguided” and called for more transparency from the province.
‘The public deserves to know. We have no record of meetings. We have no evidence of success of those meetings,” she said.
“And in the absence of that, I think Nova Scotians are going to have a lot more questions than answers about why their taxpayer money funded this trip.”
Interim Liberal Leader Mombourquette later doubled down, saying if the province wanted to send someone, it should have been a minister with a trade portfolio.
“When I found out $3,000 of taxpayers’ money was spent and we’re seeing $700-a-night hotel bills, you have to ask that question.”
— with a file from The Canadian Press
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