Bill Kelly: A blind trust could have saved Morneau all this grief

As beleaguered  Finance Minister Bill Morneau continues to trade barbs with Opposition critics during Question Period, I’m sure that little voice in the back of his head is telling him that the idea of a blind trust for his financial assets was a pretty good idea; but then, hindsight is always 20/20, isn’t it.

Morneau is a very wealthy guy and he got that way because he and his family are smart, very capable business types, which is obviously why he was tabbed to be the finance minister in the Trudeau government.

But while Morneau’s business acumen is off the charts, his political naivety is his Achilles heel.

He should have known or should have been told that politics is a blood sport, especially these days, and opponents will try to find anything to discredit the reputation of a senior minister.

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Seeking advice from an ethics commissioner wasn’t good enough, he should have automatically set up the blind trust to protect his credibility and his government’s credibility.

To be clear, there appears to be no evidence that what Morneau did was illegal or unethical, but the Opposition parties will continue to insinuate nefarious intentions and Morneau will be forced to play defence.

We can only hope that after the upcoming Christmas break, the political sideshow will end and these people can back to work.

Bill Kelly is the host of Bill Kelly Show on AM 900 CHML and a commentator for Global News