Haitian adoptees arrive at Ottawa International Airport on Jan. 24. (Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)

Critics are accusing the federal government of rerouting a flight of Haitian orphans in January from Montreal to Ottawa for a photo op with Conservative politicians, according to a report in the Toronto Star.

Most of the 24 orphans, victims of Haiti's devastating Jan. 12 earthquake, were destined for families in Quebec, the Star reported Monday, citing documents obtained through an access to information request. Initially scheduled to fly to Montreal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, they instead were flown to Ottawa — then bused to Montreal and other areas.

Their arrival on Jan. 24 aboard an Air Canada flight was widely reported; among those there to meet them was Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.

"The Harper government chose to put them through a two-hour bus ride and photo op when they totally didn't need to," Montreal Liberal MP Justin Trudeau, whose Papineau riding includes a large Haitian community, told the Star.

But Kenney spokesman Alykhan Velshi told the Star the Ottawa airport was "uniquely suited and large enough" for what was considered "a complex operation."

Duncan Dee, the chief operating officer of Air Canada, said Ottawa was "the easiest, most logical place for [the airline]."

"We actually identified the [Ottawa] welcome centre early on," Dee told the paper.