When Justin Trudeau named Bill Morneau as his minister of finance, it was widely hailed in the financial world as a good move.
The knock against Morneau was his lack of political experience, and that Achilles heel has become more and more evident in the last few weeks.
His misguided small business tax reform package, in which he insinuated that small business operators who took advantage of legal tax breaks were cheating the system, caused a firestorm of controversy that continues today.
His failure to place his substantial personal wealth and business interests in a blind trust opened him up to conflict of interest allegations and put both Morneau and the prime minister on the defensive.
But it doesn’t stop there: last week, Morneau threw gasoline onto the fire when he suggested that he didn’t have to answer media questions about his finances.
WATCH: ‘Financial business is everyone’s business’: Conservatives on Morneau
He has subsequently recanted the comment, but the damage has been done.
History shows us that the fall from grace in Ottawa can be sudden and often politically fatal.
Morneau may not have taken that fall yet, but his actions over the last few weeks certainly have him teetering at the edge of the political abyss.
Bill Kelly is the host of Bill Kelly Show on AM 900 CHML and a commentator for Global News.
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