Last Christmas, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and six of his friends vacationed in London, staying for free at High Commissioner Gordon Campbell's official residence.
The year before, Baird spent New Year's in New York, staying in Canadian consul general John Prato's residence.
The minister's office said Thursday morning that both diplomats were friends of the minister.
Campbell and Baird have been friends since before Baird's appointment as a cabinet minister in 2006. In Prato's case, the friendship was said to date back 20 years, to before his days in federal politics.
Both diplomats currently report to Baird as minister and live in government residences as part of their official roles.
The minister's office, however, says that both Campbell and Prato do pay some rent for their personal living quarters as part of their arrangements as Canada's representatives abroad.
Baird stayed in Campbell's residence from Dec. 26 to Jan. 2, 2013, after Campbell invited him as "a personal friend to his apartment" while the high commissioner was out of town.
"No staff were present as it was the holidays," wrote ministerial spokesman Joseph Lavoie in a message to CBC News. "There was no one working there, so no expenses incurred."
Consul general away
"The minister personally paid for the trip himself, including [the] flight, and personally paid for transportation to and from airport by cab, as well as around London."
The New York stay ran from Dec. 28, 2011 to Jan. 2, 2012, when the consul general was also not using his government accommodations.
"The minister has two friends who happen to be heads of missions. He has taken them both up on their offer to stay as a personal guest of theirs," Lavoie wrote. "On both occasions, no expenses were incurred and no taxpayer monies were used."
In February, the Harper government announced that Campbell's residence in London, the John A. Macdonald building in Grosvenor Square, will be put on the market as part of a consolidation of the Canadian government's real estate in London. Macdonald House, which includes both office and residential space, was last valued at $800 million.
Baird is currently travelling on government business in the Middle East. No future vacations are planned at this time, according to his office.
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