Trudeau environment minister took more than $106,000 worth of flights in 2020

Minister of Environment and Climate Change Jonathan Wilkinson, along with his staff, took more than $106,000 worth of flights in 2020, according to Blacklock's Reporter.

The total cost of Wilkinson's flights, including his political aides and department executives amounted to $106,515 with flights to cities across Canada.

"It should not be free to pollute," Wilkinson said when the government announced their recent carbon tax increase.

"I entered politics largely as a result of my concern about the environmental crisis that is climate change," Wilkinson told reporters last week. "I was concerned about these issues as a citizen of this country, a citizen of this planet, but perhaps I was most concerned about these issues as a father of two young daughters."

It is unclear how much pollution was caused by Wilkinson's travels.

In a trip to Madrid last year for an international discussion on climate change, Wilkinson and his team spent $683,278, of which over a quarter ($178,282) was spent on greenhouse-emitting travel expenses such as airfare, taxis, and chauffeured cars.

Of course, his travel expenses are covered by the government as official business, and Wilkinson would not be personally liable for the costs of the carbon tax hike, which includes a $0.27 increase in the per litre cost of propane, $0.34 increase in the per cubic metre cost of natural gas, $0.40 increase in the per litre cost of gasoline, $0.44 increase in the per litre cost of jet fuel, and a $0.47 increase in the per litre cost of diesel.

"It can be difficult, I know, to concentrate on challenges and opportunities that lay ahead," Wilkinson also said earlier this month. "None is bigger than climate change."

"We should all be allies in the fight against climate change because climate change knows no boundaries."