The $56,000 payment brings the RCMP's cost for the trip to $209,504 and the overall cost to Canadian taxpayers for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Bahamas vacation to $271,000. The RCMP's cheque to legal counsel for Bell Island is the latest twist in a saga that has dogged Trudeau ever since he decided to spend his Christmas vacation in 2016/17 on the Aga Khan's exclusive private island in the Bahamas.

OTTAWA - The remaining $56,000 of the $271,000 cost to the Canadian taxpayers following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's controversial vacation on the Aga Khan's private island in the Bahamas, has been paid after the RCMP wrote a cheque two weeks ago for $56,000 worth of meals, accommodations and jet ski rentals.

The police force, which ensures the safety of the prime minister when he travels, had given up on trying to reimburse the amount for the trip over the 2016/17 Christmas holidays and had considered the matter closed. However, that changed a few weeks ago, said RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Caroline Duval, reported CBC News.

"In late December 2019, RCMP officials made a further effort to explore possible repayment methods, which resulted in a solution and a reimbursement," Duval wrote.

"On January 17, 2020, the RCMP issued a cheque 'in trust' of the legal counsel representing Bell Island. The reimbursement was treated as an operational expenditure."

Duval said the repayment happened after RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki intervened.

The $56,000 payment brings the RCMP's cost for the trip to $209,504 and the overall cost to Canadian taxpayers for Trudeau's Bahamas vacation to $271,000.

The RCMP's cheque to legal counsel for Bell Island is the latest twist in a saga that has dogged Trudeau ever since he decided to spend his Christmas vacation in 2016/17 on the Aga Khan's exclusive private island in the Bahamas.

Trudeau long defended the trip, arguing that the Aga Khan, leader of the world's Ismaili Muslims, is a longtime family friend.

However, former ethics commissioner Mary Dawson found in December 2017 that Trudeau violated four sections of the Conflict of Interest Act, which governs public office holders, when he accepted the vacation.

The RCMP have rejected calls for a police investigation into whether the trip broke the Criminal Code prohibition on someone who deals with the government giving a gift to a public office holder.

However, New Democratic Ethics Critic Charlie Angus said the fallout from the trip has gone on long enough and questioned why it took the RCMP so long to pay the bill.

"The whole thing just reeks of some kind of circus."