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Carney's in-flight menu includes fine wine, braised beef and 'luxury' butter: Canadian Taxpayers Federation
Your grocery list this week probably didn’t include “luxury Normandy butter cups” or beef tenderloin, and you probably opted for the $25 bottle of red wine instead the one more than twice the price, but the Canadian Taxpayers Federation wants you to know that “Prime Minister Mark Carney and his entourage” are enjoying such luxuries when they fly internationally.
The advocacy group dug into House of Commons order paper questions and learned that just shy of $200,000 was spent feeding Carney and government officials who accompanied him on just three out-of-country flights in 2025.
Franco Terrazzano, the CTF’s federal director, contended that’s more than an average Canadian family will have to spend to feed themselves for a decade.
“When the government is paying more than a billion dollars a week to cover interest charges on the debt, it’s time to stop irresponsible overspending on luxuries like gourmet in-flight dining,” he said in a press release.
According to the latest Canada Good Price Report , the average family of four is expected to spend $17,571.79 on food this year, which, over ten years, is roughly $180,000.
Of the three overseas excursions, the most costly from a catering standpoint was the May 16-19 trip to Rome and Vatican City last September — where the devout Catholic and his wife, Diana Fox Carney, attended the inaugural mass of Pope Leo XIV — which rang in at almost $94,000.
Menu items included veal escalope, herb and smoked Gouda omelets, crème brûlée and chocolate mousse.
A trip to the U.K. two months prior to strengthen economic and security ties — just two days after being sworn in — ended with a catering invoice for over $52,610 sent to Ottawa.
One option on the way to London was red wine braised beef with a choice of edamame ragu or pearl onion and rosemary roasted red potatoes, while the return menu featured pan-seared salmon with lemon and herb couscous and broccoli.
On their trip to and from to the Netherlands last June for the NATO leaders’ summit, the total catering cost for Carney and 57 others on the Royal Canadian Air Force Airbus 330 was roughly $49,000 from a menu that offered beef tenderloin, Scottish salmon and the “luxury Normandy butter cups.”
On the subject of wine, Carney and his fellow passengers had a choice between a selection of four on each flight — two red and two white — all of them from wineries in Ontario or B.C.
A 2021 chardonnay from Inniskillin Montague Vineyard Chardonnay, reasonably priced at around $30 across Canada, was available on every flight, but more red options included Le Clos Jordanne Le Grand Clos Pinot Noir, which retails for $55 at the LCBO or the Meyer Family Vineyards Pinot Noir which commands a $56 price tag.
According to the Department of National Defence, which operates the 437 Transport Squadron responsible for moving the prime minister and other VIPs, catering costs “include the cost of food, non-alcoholic beverages, and associated fees, including catering handling and delivery, storage, cleaning and disposal of international waste, airport taxes, administrative fees, security charges, and local taxes.”
Terrazzano said the spending contradicts Carney’s campaign promise to tighten the government’s purse strings. Part of the Liberals’ election platform was to “spend less on government and invest more in the people and businesses that will grow our economy.”
“Carney has repeatedly told Canadians he would spend less, but he spent more money on airplane food than Trudeau,” Terrazzano said, noting that documents show the former prime minister spent $43,000 to cater his 2024 trip to Italy.
“The prime minister shouldn’t need a focus group to recommend him to stop billing taxpayers half a million dollars on airplane food in one year.”
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