Senator Plett: Yet they didn’t all stay in that one hotel room. If there had only been 56 people in that hotel room, I would accept that as being very frugal.

Senator Gold, you and I are old enough to remember the old vinyl records where the needle got stuck and it played the same thing over and over again. You remind me of that vinyl record.

We know how many people were there. We know there were prime ministers there, but we also know the Governor General and Stephen Harper did not stay there. Tell me if Paul Martin stayed there. Tell me if Jean Chrétien stayed there. If that’s what you’re inferring, Senator Gold, I would accept that as an answer.

Canadians deserve the truth. They deserve to be heard, and they deserve transparency from our Prime Minister. This is why I’m asking you these questions.

Yes, it was expensive to stay there. I hear there were rooms that cost $1,700 a night. Not this one. This one cost $7,300 a night for five nights, Senator Gold — a $36,500 invoice for this room alone. Senator Gold, $36,500 is the annual salary for someone working forty hours a week at $18.25 an hour.

How on earth does Prime Minister Trudeau think this expense is reasonable and appropriate, when at the end of the day he is not personally footing the bill but rather asking and expecting Canadians to?

Senator Gold, yesterday, Prime Minister Trudeau slipped and basically admitted in the House of Commons that it was all about him. Will you, Senator Gold, and your government come clean and tell Canadian taxpayers straight up: Was it Prime Minister Trudeau who stayed in that room?

Hon. Denise Batters: Senator Gold, in 2012, former cabinet minister Bev Oda was hounded by opposition parties for a London hotel stay. Her room cost $665 per night. Fast forward, and Prime Minister Trudeau just dinged Canadian taxpayers more than 10 times that amount: $7,300 per night for his opulent 900‑square-foot suite in London.

Last week, you tried to “LaurentianSplain” this PM’s outrageous expense with, “When’s the last time you tried to rent a good hotel room in London?” Yikes. Minister Oda reimbursed her hotel costs. When will this silver spoon Prime Minister reimburse his?