nova scotia premier's five-star hotel stays, $20,000 in total travel raises questions about spending practices
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premier houtson racked up over $9,000 in total hotel costs over three international trips in 2025.
tim krochak
/
the chronicle herald
expense records from three international trips premier tim houston took last year are raising questions regarding his spending choices abroad, including over $5,000 for five nights’ accommodations in one trip.
the three trips happened throughout 2025: paris in may, boston in june, and london and milan in october. with all travel costs combined, they cost taxpayers around $20,000.
the information was gathered through a freedom of information request from the canadian taxpayers federation (ctf), who say that while, yes, government officials need to travel, they should be expected to choose reasonably priced accommodations, especially given recent provincial budget cuts.
“the premier should lead by example,” said atlantic director and general counsel for the ctf, devin drover.
five-star milan and london stays
the federation emphasized houston’s stays in london and milan in october 2025 to attend the world energy summit in london and to attract investors to nova scotia; it was there he billed more than $5,000 for five nights at two hotels.
in london, he stayed three nights at the w london hotel in leicester square. the stay cost around $3,216, according to both the release and documents, the final night alone accounting for $1,270.
then in milan, he stayed at another five-star hotel, hotel viu milan, for the price of $1,828 for two nights. the hotel features a michelin-starred chef and a rooftop pool.
drover said that while he can understand why the premier may need to consider accommodations near meetings or other events while travelling in a large city, he questioned why the premier chose a five-star hotel when cheaper accommodations were available in the area.
“when you’re seeing the choice being made between, you know, a five-star hotel or a three-star hotel in the same block, you know, i think that speaks volumes here,” he said.
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combined, accommodations in milan and london cost taxpayers $5,044 over five nights.
drover added that the federation isn’t against the government travelling when it serves a legitimate purpose, including strengthening trade relationships or attracting investment. the concern comes, however, when looking at how public money is spent once politicians reach their destination.
“government may have legitimate reason to do travel,” he said. “it’s really just that when this travel does occur, government should be doing it in a way that’s, you know, fiscally responsible.”
paris and boston
the documents also looked at houston’s 2025 trips to paris and boston.
in may 2025, houston spent $2,562.01 on hotel stays in paris, including stays at the marriott paris opera ambassador hotel and the mercure clermont ferrand.
the trip to boston in june that year included a stay for three nights at the sheraton boston hotel costing $1,559.63. the visit was to attend the bio boston international convention and meet with northeastern u.s. state governors.
stricter rules required
while the federation does not believe houston broke any existing rules around travel expenses, drover argued the current restrictions are not strong enough to prevent frivolous spending.
“it’s more so the issue that, you know, when you have a premier that’s telling nova scotians that, you know, they need to find savings, they need to reduce costs,” he said. “leadership starts at the top.”
he said that while he’s not suggesting politicians stay in cheap hotels, he wants cabinet to consider adopting stricter policies that require politicians to choose lower-cost accommodations when they are suitable and available.
the expense reports do not lay out the reason for why the two hotels were selected.
“if the premier has a reason, or the premier’s office has a reason why those are chosen, i’d love to hear from him on that,” drover said.
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criticism comes as the provincial government is looking for ways to reduce spending and address the large provincial deficit in the most recent budget.
premier’s office defends travel funds
a statement from the premier’s office said that the premier’s travel is aimed at protecting the province from u.s. tariffs and creating new chances for economic growth.
“premier houston is focused on protecting nova scotia from president trump’s trade war and growing our economy by building new partnerships and export opportunities, ” it stated, adding that staff follow the same travel policies used by previous governments.
“staff take several factors into consideration, such as cost, safety and security and proximity to meeting locations. “
the premier’s office also noted that nova scotia sold more to denmark, france, spain and italy in 2025 than in 2024.
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