Harper gives EU leaders free plane ride on heels of free-trade deal

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, centre, shakes hands with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, left, and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy at a meeting in Brussels on June 4. Photo: The Associated Press

OTTAWA — The Prime Minister’s Office is defending a decision to give a European Union delegation a free plane flight home last Friday at a cost that a media report estimated at more than $300,000.

Jason MacDonald says a Canadian Forces Airbus was offered as a courtesy to ensure “that no elements” of Friday’s Canada-EU summit were cut short.

Two top European Union leaders, Herman Van Rompuy and Jose Manuel Barroso, were in Ottawa where they signed a Canada-EU free-trade agreement.

The CBC reported that adding a Toronto reception to the visit would have made it impossible for the EU delegation to catch a commercial flight from Ottawa and make it to a Saturday meeting in Brussels.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper authorized the use of the Airbus that he normally uses on foreign trips, the CBC said.

Sunday’s report estimated the cost of the flight to be in the neighbourhood of $338,055, basing its calculations on government figures from 2012 on the estimated hourly cost to operate the aircraft.

An initial email response from MacDonald did not contest the CBC’s cost estimate, instead touting the benefits of the trade deal and the summit.

“Friday’s Summit allowed business leaders to meet and discuss the opportunities the Canada-Europe Free Trade Agreement present,” the email said. “The Airbus was offered as a courtesy to our European Union guests.”

Harper has touted the trade deal as a major achievement for his government, which faces an election next year.

Last year he flew to Brussels with great fanfare for a signing ceremony on an agreement in principle.

Concerns were raised last week that some EU members might try to scuttle the deal, but Van Rompuy, the European Council president and Barroso, the European Commission president, both joined Harper in dismissing any suggestion the deal faced any significant difficulties.

It must still be approved by all 28 EU members and the Canadian provinces.