Report: Modi’s trip costs $3,73,000 to Canadian taxpayers

The cost of Modi’s trip to Canada from April 15, the first official visit by an Indian prime minister in more than 40 years, were provided to ‘The Huffington Post Canada’ under the Access to Information Act.

The expenses included 10,448 dollars on hotel rooms, 30,000 dollars on audio visual equipment, 21,708 dollars on unspecified consultants, 73,213 dollars on public servants’ travel, 14,790 dollars on health services, 3,65,654 dollars on flowers and wreaths, 1,584 dollars on gifts, 5,981 dollars on interpreters and translation and 75 dollars for a flag. The bill did not include security costs, the report said.

The largest expense on a gathering at an arena in downtown Toronto, at which Canadian Prime Minister and Conservative Leader Stephen Harper spoke to 10,000 members of the Indo-Canadian community and Modi was feted, was however not borne by Canadian taxpayers but by private citizens and businesses.

The event at the Ricoh Coliseum cost about 600,000 dollars, National Alliance of Indo-Canadians’ President Azad Kumar Kaushik told HuffPost.

The event became controversial as it gave a political boost to Progressive Conservative Party (PCP) MP Patrick Brown, who was campaigning for <g data-gr-id="25">leadership</g> of Ontario province.

Kaushik, however, said, “We did not look at it from an electoral perspective. Our goal was to create bonding between India and Canada.”