Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been under weeks of criticism for a vacation he took with his family.
Canada’s outgoing ethics commissioner whose term has just ended, Mary Dawson, has dismissed several charges against the Prime Minister, but did determine he contravened sections 5, 11, 12, and 21 of the Conflict of Interest Act rules. Her report has been filed on the website of the Office of Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner.
The Prime Minister is under fire for accepting a ride on the Aga Khan’s private helicopter, to vacation on the Aga Khan’s private island in the Bahamas in late December 2016. He had also vacationed there in 2014 after he had become leader of the opposition Liberal Party and family and friends vacationed on the island as well in March 2016.
The Aga Khan is the founder and chair of the board of directors of the Aga Khan Development Network, as well as the Aga Khan Foundation (charity) Canada and the Global Centre for Pluralism which is based in Ottawa.
The report states that Trudeau violated rules , “Because there was ongoing official business between the Government of Canada and the Aga Khan at the time each invitation was accepted, Mr. Trudeau, as Prime Minister, was in a position to be able to advance some of the matters of interest to the Aga Khan. As well, the Foundation was registered to lobby the Office of the Prime Minister at that time. For these reasons, I determined that the vacations accepted by Mr. Trudeau or his family might reasonably be seen to have been given to influence Mr. Trudeau”.
The ethics commissioner ruled against another complaint because he has stated that no government business was discussed with the Aga Kahn during the vacation.
He did however break another rule, Section 12, by accepting the private helicopter ride. That rule says Parliamentarians are first required to clear any trips on private transportation with the commissioner before accepting the rides.
The Prime Minister was also cited for not recusing himself on two occasions in 2016 during official discussions of a $15 million endowment by the government to the Global Pluralism Centre, which is directly connected to the Aga Khan. She said this raised the issue of conflict of interest.
The opposition Conservative Party under leader Andrew Scheer, is demanding that the Prime Minister appear before the ethics committee to answer more questions about trips to the island.
They want to know who else was on the island during the Prime Minister’s vacation and what may have been discussed. News reports indicated that then U.S Secretary of State John Kerry was also there at the same time.
The December 2016 trip cost taxpayers some $200,000 for security and transportation. Due to the criticism, Justin Trudeau has apologized for his “mistakes” and has repaid the commercial airfare equivalent cost of the flights for him and his family.
The ethics committee will meet next week to decide whether to invite the Prime Minister to appear before them.
The Liberals hold a majority of seats on the ethics committee the likelihood of Trudeau being asked to appear is uncertain.
Additional information-sources
- CBC: Jan 6/17: Trudeau defends against criticism
- CBC: K Simpson: Jan 5/17: Conservatives demand PM appear
- Global TV: A Connolly: Dec 20.17: vacation broke rules (+videos)
- Global TV: A Connelly: Jan 5/17: Strategy behind ethics request
- Postmedia (TorontoSun) Editorial; Jan 7/17: ethics appearance needed
- National Post: M.D.Smith: Jan 8/18: criticism of ethics work “unwarranted”
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