Liberals try to put a lid on controversy surrounding two Trudeau nannies

Trudeau said government should help families who need a leg up, “not families like mine or Mr. Harper’s” who have money to burn. “I would like all Canadian families to have affordable child care”.

The nannies have been hired for $15 to $20 an hour during the day and $11 to $13 at night, a fee nanny associations say reflects the average rate.At a news conference Monday on the conference site, Trudeau said the three-month election campaign this fall that propelled his Liberals to power showed him that Canadians are ready to pitch in on fighting climate change.

Marilou Trayvilla, one of two women employed to take care of the Trudeau children, is seen at left as she joins prime minister-designate Justin Trudeau and family upon their arrival to Rideau Hall for the swearing-in ceremony in Ottawa on Wednesday, November 4, 2015.

“I just think he should pay for it himself”, Ambrose said in an interview. But all things considered, the hiring of a nanny to take care of the prime minister’s children should be a heck of a lot easier to defend than a $16 glass of orange juice.

Trudeau has also pledged to hike taxes on the wealthiest Canadians and usher in a “middle-class tax cut”, for those Canadians with a taxable annual income between $44,700 and $89,401.

Ambrose said that the public expects some perks for their political leaders, but they draw the line at luxuries like nannies.

“I think this is a problem of his own doing and taxpayers are offended, and he’ll have to deal with it”.

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair said he was surprised the prime minister provided his family with child care as one of his “first official acts”.

A spokesperson with the Prime Minister’s Office later clarified that “given the nature of the prime minister’s responsibilities and his young family, the Trudeaus employ two household employees who, in addition to performing other duties around the house, act as secondary caregivers to the three children”.

Dogged with questions about the caregiver controversy, Kate Purchase, Trudeau’s director of communications, released a statement Wednesday indicating the prime minister will adjust his staff complement to suit his family’s needs. “It is an ongoing process and will be finalized in the coming days”, Purchase said in an email.

Other members of the Opposition have also criticized the move.