Costa Rican politicians greeting the arriving Canadian Prime Minister Friday had no trouble recognizing an unmasked Justin Trudeau and family.
Canada still requires travelers to wear masks, including passengers aboard flights to and from the United States, even after a U.S. federal judge invalidated the mask mandate for travelers.
A video posted to Twitter of the Trudeau family deplaning in Costa Rica without masks has been viewed more than 1 million times.
One of the prime minister’s daughters may be seen sneezing twice after she clears the stairs from the airplane.
Friday’s violation of his own mask mandate is apparently not the first time the Canadian leader has flaunted the pandemic countermeasure.
Trudeau was photographed maskless as he shook hands during a photo op aboard an Okanagan, B.C., steam train last month, according to a National Post report.
The report noted that weeks before the prime minister’s trip, Transport Canada warned passengers can be ejected from a train and face a $5,000 fine if they’re caught maskless during the journey.
Some Canadians expressed displeasure on social media about the prime minister flying his family to Costa Rica even before the video surfaced showing him not wearing a mask. Critics complained about taxpayers footing the bill for a luxury jaunt to a tropical destination while the pandemic is ongoing.
Officials from the U.S. northern suburb confirmed the Trudeau family will stay at the same resort that the family visited over Christmas 2019. Records obtained from the Canadian government show that visit cost taxpayers $196,137, according to a Toronto Sun report.
The prime minister’s office clarified that the family will pay for their holiday stay with their own funds, according to a report from the Daily Hive.
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