OTTAWA — Chrystia Freeland was in the hot seat Tuesday, accused by the Conservatives of spending thousands of taxpayers dollars on a vanity trip to Los Angeles — but the international trade minister was ready for the attacks with barbs of her own. Four Conservatives MPs stood up one by one — seven questions in all — to raise the spectre that Freeland had spent $20,000 to appear on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" in November. Alberta Tory MP Blaine Calkins said he had emails obtained under the Access to Information Act that showed Freeland's staff were scrambling to put a program together and begging Los Angeles Times journalists to be interviewed.

International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland speaks in the House of Commons on Tuesday, May 3, 2016. (Photo: Sean Kilpatrick/CP) "Why does the minister continue to claim the trip was about Canadian business interests when it was actually all about her?" he asked. Canadian officials were caught off-guard by the visit, he suggested. "L.A. Consul General [James] Villeneuve noted there ‘seems to be a bit of confusion.' The global affairs director general of communications was also confused, saying in emails, ‘What is she doing in L.A.? Besides the Bill Maher show?" Calkin said. "Clearly, this was a personal trip built around her TV appearance." Freeland said the Tories were once again "trying to create a story where there is none." Unlike Harper, 'we get invited': Freeland "The media appearances were part of the official visit, along with six business round tables. It is my job to promote Canada to the world," she told the House. "Let me remind [the Conservative opposition] that their own leader, the former prime minister [Stephen Harper], spent $50,000 of taxpayer money to get himself U.S. media appearances," Freeland said. "We do not need to do that. We get invited." Harper's office hired Ari Fleischer, a former spokesman for U.S. president George W. Bush, twice during the prime minister's mandate, at a cost of $24,500 a pop, to help manage U.S. media relations. Minister lists interviews Freeland said she is proud to speak to the international media. "Just yesterday, I gave an interview to Politico in Washington," she said. "As minister, I would like to list some of the other international interviews I have done. I have done an interview with MSNBC, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, the LA Times, and the Financial Times," she said, while the Tories yelled out "More! More!" and egged her on. "I have done three BBC interviews. I have spoken to EU Trade Insights. I spoke to La Libra; Deutsche Welle, the German TV; Luberg Television; Handelsblatt [a German newspaper]," she said.