Ottawa spent at least $55M on Pope Francis’ visit to Canada
Global News
Some survivors and Indigenous people have said the Pope's apology on Canadian soil was important to their healing and the process of reconciliation. Others said it fell short.
A family member of residential school survivors says the minimum $55-million price tag for Pope’ visit to Canada last year feels like another slap in the face for Indigenous people.
“Think of all the money that could have gone to survivors, all of the money that could have gone to healing, all of the money that was rightfully supposed to be given to folks who survived genocide,” Michelle Robinson, who is Sahtu Dene, said from Calgary.
Documents obtained by The Canadian Press under freedom of information laws show the federal government spent a minimum of $55,972,683 for the leader of the Roman Catholic Church to visit Canada over six days last July.
Pope Francis apologized for the Catholic Church’s role in residential schools during stops in Alberta, Quebec and Nunavut.
Indigenous Services Canada earmarked about $30 million. Those funds were to be used for travel, local programs and healing initiatives.
Crown-Indigenous Relations spent $5.1 million, the majority for a $3.9-million contract to broadcast the papal tour’s stops, as well as translation services into Indigenous languages and French.
RCMP said, as of Feb. 24, 2023, it had spent more than $18 million, which included overtime pay, travel expenditures and accommodation costs. Global Affairs Canada spent about $2 million on travel, meetings and accommodations, plus an additional $35,728 on communication and media relations.
Public Safety Canada redacted all costs from documents obtained through access-to-information requests.
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