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While ethics commissioner Mario Dion on Thursday cleared Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of breaking the Conflict of Interest Act in the WE Charity affair, it was far from a slam-dunk victory for the PM.
The reason Trudeau escaped censure is the weakness of the legislation.
It says for a guilty finding there has to be an actual conflict of interest, as opposed to the higher standard imposed by common law and in the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons.
That says MPs must, “fulfil their public duties with honesty and uphold the highest standards so as to avoid real or apparent conflicts of interests,” arranging “their private affairs in a manner that bears the closest public scrutiny, an obligation that may not be fully discharged by simply acting within the law.”
Dion said Trudeau’s conduct, and his family’s conduct in their relationship with WE before it was chosen by Trudeau and his cabinet to administer the federally-funded Canada Student Service Grant, “gave rise to a strong appearance of conflict between the Trudeau family’s relationship with WE and Mr. Trudeau’s duty to make decisions that best serve the public interest.
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“Mr. Trudeau and members of his family had been closely involved in WE’s affairs for several years. His mother and brother had both been paid to speak at WE-related events, while his spouse was an official ambassador and ally since 2018 and hosted her own WE-themed podcast.
“As recently as March 2020, Mr. Trudeau’s spouse and mother had participated in WE Day events and had been reimbursed for their travel and accommodation expenses.
“Photographs of Mr. Trudeau’s spouse and mother were even used in an updated version of WE’s proposal for the CSSG. All this in addition to the numerous occasions where Mr. Trudeau himself participated in WE’s public gatherings and benefited from publicity and promotional materials generated, directly and indirectly, by WE.”
Dion noted Trudeau “does not dispute the fact that his and his family’s proximity to the WE organization created the appearance of conflict.”
The reason he cleared Trudeau, Dion said, is that he accepted his legal argument the federal conflict law “does not expressly refer to apparent conflicts of interest.”
Some law. Some victory.
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