N.S. cabinet minister under fire for using taxpayer money to attend Trump inauguration

Scott Armstrong, Minister of Opportunities and Social Development, travelled to DC for President Trump's inauguration. He said it was to advocate for Nova Scotian jobs.

Debate at the  Nova Scotia legislature Tuesday afternoon took a turn when interim Liberal Leader Derek Mombourquette brought up a cabinet minister’s recent trip south of the border.

‘The minister spent time at the Donald Trump inauguration and he spent $3,000 of taxpayers’ dollars to do it,” he said.

Scott Armstrong, Minister of Opportunities and Social Development, defended his January trip — saying he was advocating for Nova Scotian jobs amid tariff threats from the United States at the time.

“I was proud to do that,” responded Armstrong.

“I was working on behalf of Nova Scotia and I’m convinced that we need to do more of that to express our views and get more support as we take on Donald Trump and his tariffs.”

After question period, Armstrong told reporters although he had a ticket to the inauguration, he wasn’t able to attend the event once it was moved indoors due to the weather.

He said he spent most of his time in DC at the Canadian embassy instead.

“I wish I could have gone to the actual inauguration, but the real work was done at the Canadian embassy, where all the stakeholders were. And that’s the important relationships you can develop,” he said.