Trudeau to keep nannies, office says

Critics say Justin Trudeau is a hypocrite because he campaigned against a Conservative program that provided day care funds to upper income families, and yet, as Prime Minister, he expects the taxpayer to pay for nannies for his children.

The women are to be paid between $15 and $20 an hour during the day and from $11 to $13 on the night shift, retroactive to the date Trudeau became prime minister, according to an order passed by cabinet last week.

This comes after Trudeau’s election campaign in which he emphasized that rich families, like his and former PM Stephen Harper’s, didn’t need taxpayers’ help.

“Families like his and mine don’t need that tax cut, and Canada can’t afford it”, Trudeau said last January.

A nanny to the Trudeau family poses with Hadrien Trudeau, 1, at the Fondation Louis Vuitton art gallery in Paris, France.

“It does not jive with the very strong pronouncements he made in the election campaign that taxpayers should not be subsidizing wealthy families like his”, she said.

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.

Trudeau is not the first prime minister to have nannies on staff at his official residence. 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. Justin Trudeau was sworn in as Canada’s 23rd prime minister in front of a huge crowd sporting Liberal red, 50 years after his father took the job.

As a regular MP, Trudeau would have earned about a $167,000 a year and, like all MPs, paid for his own meals, housing, and child care out of that salary.

After CBC News reported on the posts, the woman either removed them or tightened her security settings to obscure the content from public viewing.

It’s not so much Opposition criticism that should concern the prime minister – the Trudeaus should be entitled to the support they require to perform their roles as Canada’s first family, and these politicians are aware of that, even if they don’t pay it lip service. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Speaks with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at a Luncheon for New Commonwealth Leaders November 27, 2015 Valletta, Malta Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II alongside other new Commonwealth leaders.

Purchase did not specify what those other duties entail, but said similar arrangements have existed for Trudeau’s predecessors.

She’s also pleased to see that more than one nanny is now caring for Trudeau’s three children.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Meets with Organisation internationale de la Francophonie Secretary General Michaelle Jean November 29, 2015 Paris, France The two met during the Prime Minister’s bilateral visit to France.