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OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has received the gift of his own image some 17 times since he became prime minister, once again through China’s president.
The portraits and photos, along with a slew of Vases, bottles of wine and Star Wars accessories, are among the more than 400 gifts valued at more than $200 that Trudeau has declared to the federal Ethics Commissioner since 2015.
Among the depictions of “self-masquerades,” as described in Trudeau’s revelations, are a seal portrait of Chinese President Xi Jinping and a goatskin portrait donated through Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali.
There is also a three-dimensional glass collage of Trudeau and former US President Barack Obama, as cutouts of him and his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, donated through Canadian artists.
The Prime Minister’s Office, when asked, did not specifically respond to the question of what happens to all those photographs of Trudeau. For example, is there any, such as the oil painting entitled “Happy Moments,” hanging in your home in Rideau?They simply said that some gifts are kept or stored while others are given or confiscated.
Roy Norton, Canada’s protocol leader in Global Affairs from 2016 to 2019, told The Canadian Press that he saw nothing in the portrait trend other than a preference “for being more and less expensive. “
To the same end, Norton said in an interview, Canada’s protocol would seek to tailor Trudeau’s gifts to the recipient’s tastes.
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel is a Fan of Bach, so she won a box set of concerts conducted by Glenn Gould, she said, while one of Trudeau’s gifts to former U. S. President Donald Trump was a photograph of Trump with Pierre Elliott Trudeau in New York in the 1980s. .
“Trump loves pictures of himself, so it was a gift that was very well received,” Norton said. The president told the media at the time: “What a beautiful photo. “
Norton explained that gift exchanges are a highly orchestrated bureaucratic matter, adding that Canadian prime ministers would prefer to get any gifts because of the possibility of negative attention.
“No leader of a democratic country has the right to compromise or spend a fraction of the news cycle protecting a gift earned or a gift offered,” he said.
Trudeau has won 110 gifts from heads of state or government of other countries since becoming prime minister, according to a public records investigation, with the pandemic dropping significantly as travel has become much less frequent.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II was the ultimate beneficiary of foreign officials, presenting 10 gifts to Trudeau, ranging from a homemade leather saddle to “sculptural plant containers” and jars of honey. The king even left a box of skincare products for Trudeau. – public scale in Canada last year, which the prime minister’s office said the two did not meet.
French President Emmanuel Macron has reached the time with seven gifts for the prime minister, including a limited-edition Star Wars X-wing pen, a gift overshadowed by Obama’s 2016 offer of a script for the film “The Force Awakens,” signed by the director. J. J. Abrams.
More than 140 gifts declared by Trudeau were intended for his wife or children, such as riding scooters and toys filled with Bo “The First Dog” presented through Obama.
And several dozen consisted of an “introduction to” clothing, accessories and jewelry designers, such as a pair of combat gloves presented through Rival Boxing Gear in 2018. Others were loot bags containing branded items, such as a Jack Daniel’s T-shirt. and sweatshirt presented with a bottle of whiskey.
Trudeau had to give up 20 gifts in recent years, adding up to 3 paintings of himself, an Arabic cape and a Seiko watch from the Japanese prime minister, because they were more than $1,000.
He reimbursed part of the price of two gifts so he could keep them: an electric motorcycle donated by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in 2016 and an engraving by Inuit artist Annie Pootoogook by nunavik Tunngavik Inc. president. in 2017. It also won from Li a Huawei Mate 10 Pro Android phone in 2017.
Fearful that Chinese electronic devices would arouse suspicion, Norton said the RCMP scans everything the prime minister receives and even dismantles the items for compromising items. And a spokeswoman for Trudeau said all gifts sent to him were checked by security.
Ethical revelations don’t come with pieces donated to Trudeau that are worth less than $200, such as trinkets and letters he receives from the general public.
This report through The Canadian Press was first published on August 1, 2022.
Marie-Danielle Smith, the Canadian press
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