Eight months ago, Justin Trudeau received notice from Canada’s electorate that while he and his government would be permitted to continue management of the nation, the leash would be significantly shorter.
Trudeau and the Liberal government, going forward, would be required to pass muster and submit to scrutiny by the Conservatives, Bloc Quebecois, New Democrats and Greens. In other words, Canadians had rescinded Trudeau’s majority government and replaced it with a minority.
READ MORE: Senior public servants repeatedly questioned key parts of WE Charity deal, documents show
A list of names and incidents has chased Trudeau from the heady days and “sunny ways” of 2015.
His crowing that “Canada is back” was obliterated by vindictive behaviour toward former star cabinet ministers, by an accusation of groping that he denied, and by repeated public appearances as an adult in blackface and brownface.
Most recently another cabinet star, now former minister of finance Bill Morneau, exited Trudeau’s inner circle, and for good measure departed government entirely.
Yet it is this prime minister’s proclivity to sidestep ethical behaviour that is most troublesome.
Twice found to have breached the parliamentary Conflict of Interest Act, and with an investigation of a third possible occurrence underway, the nation must question whether any of Trudeau’s public declarations are truthful or merely convenient to him.
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Trudeau’s proroguing of Parliament, which halts all-party government committees investigating the prime minister’s relationship to WE Charity and the sole-source granting to WE of a contract to administer a $912-million federal program for students, is viewed through the lens of Trudeau’s past behaviour.
Does the official closing of Parliament deliver potential personal benefit to Trudeau? Answer that question for yourself.
Trudeau preceded the prorogation of Parliament by shuttering, full in-person attendance by MPs under the guise of the COVID-19 threat. Simultaneously, supermarkets and liquor stores remained fully open and staffed. They, but not the government of Canada, have been identified as an essential service.
Former parliamentary Conflict of Interest Act commissioner Mary Dawson suggested on air with us recently that perhaps Trudeau displays a certain blindness toward correct (ethical) decision-making.
Now we wait, with Parliament closed, for the current commissioner’s investigation to eventually inform Canadians whether their prime minister is a three-times ethics violator.
Roy Green is the host of the Roy Green Show on the Global News Radio network.
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