Trudeau sidesteps questions on $200,000 moving bill for top aides

UPDATE: PMO staffers Gerald Butts and Katie Telford issued an apology on Thursday for their respective moving expenses which totalled more than $200,000, and said they would repay some of the costs.

Justin Trudeau avoided questions Thursday over new revelations about the $200,000 in relocation expenses to move two of his top aides to Ottawa. It’s a bill that taxpayers will foot.

WATCH: Conservatives continue to call out Liberals over moving expenses

2:15 Conservatives continue to call out Liberals over moving expenses

Trudeau defended the staff moving expenses during a joint press conference with China’s premier on Thursday, but refused to provide any more details.

“The Canadian government has been covering relocation costs for senior public servants and ministers’ staff for a long time, since my father was prime minister of this country,” Trudeau told reporters.

“We followed all the rules … and I can assure everyone that both the policy itself and the administration of the policy was done in accordance with all rules.”

READ MORE: Conservatives hammer Trudeau Liberals over $1.1M in staff relocation expenses

4:20 MPs question PM Trudeau on staff relocating costs; demand names, where money went

The prime minister also sidestepped questions from reporters regarding a report from the Globe and Mail that identified Gerald Butts, Trudeau’s principal secretary, and chief of staff Katie Telford as the two members of the prime minister’s inner circle who were reimbursed for those moving costs.

WATCH: Trudeau takes heat over relocation expenses for top staffers

2:12 Trudeau staffers own up to billing for relocation expenses

One PMO staffer expensed more than $126,000, while another billed more than $80,000. The Globe did not identify which costs were associated with which aide.

“I am proud of the team we assembled,” Trudeau said. “I can confirm that our Prime Minister’s Office is significantly smaller than the Prime Minister’s Office of the previous Conservative government.”

WATCH: Liberals gouge taxpayers for moving costs

2:18 Liberals gouge taxpayers for moving costs

However, amid an uproar over the moving expenses the Liberals appear open to reviewing the guidelines for staff relocation costs.

Liberal MP and Treasury Board President Scott Brison said the government continually reviews “all policies” to determine their cost-effectiveness.

“We always do our utmost, on an ongoing basis, to review all policies to ensure that we deliver best value for the taxpayers,” Brison told Global News. “That is an ongoing evergreen process in government.”

“We’ve attracted a diverse team of people from across Canada. Talented people who have moved themselves and their families here to serve Canadians. These people have followed the rules and have done the utmost to respect those rules.”

Late Wednesday, the Globe also reported that public land records show Butts made $630,000 off the sale of his Toronto home, while Telford made nearly $500,000 on the sale of her $1,005,000 Toronto home earlier this year.

WATCH: Liberals blame PMO expense policies in wake of relocation scandal

1:09 Liberals blame PMO expense policies in wake of relocation scandal

A search of records conducted by Global News reveals that Butts’ home sold for just under $1 million.

The Liberals have defended the relocation costs insisting they followed the rules and said the current relocation policy was created by the Conservative government.

“The government has had a relocation policy for public servants and ministerial staff since the 1970s, and this specific policy has been in place since the Conservative government in Jan 2011,” Kate Purchase, the prime minister’s director of communications, said in a statement to Global News Wednesday evening.

“Some people across government, and in the PMO, moved from rental to rental, others sold their homes and moved their families to Ottawa. In the case of the two larger numbers for the PMO, the vast majority of the costs had to do with real estate and legal fees. There were much smaller moving logistic fees associated as well.”

The Conservatives have accused the Liberals of “entitlement” over the costs and hammered away at the Trudeau government during Question Period this week.

“The Prime Minister personally signed off on $220,000 in moving expenses for his own political staff,” Alberta Conservative MP Blaine Calkins said. “The chief responsibility of the Prime Minister is to be honest and forthright with Canadians in the House. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about these expenses. They are wrong.”