Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is facing some tropical heat after we learned his family spent their vacation on the private island of the Aga Khan, a billionaire philanthropist and spiritual leader to 15 million Ismaili Muslims, including many who settled in Canada.
At issue is the fact that the Aga Khan’s foundation lobbies for and accepts Canadian federal foreign aid dollars in doing its laudable humanitarian work. And ministers are barred from using private aircraft.
Though the Aga Khan is a longtime friend of the Trudeau family, Parliament’s Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner now has some questions for the PM, and rightly so. Not only must the prime minister’s family vacation be beyond reproach, it must appear to be beyond reproach.
If he’s found to be in the wrong, the maximum penalty is a small fine and a bureaucratic slap on the wrist. But Trudeau will have to wear this politically.
Whether it’s due to arrogance or air-headedness, Trudeau’s scandals and gaffes seem to stem from a lack of foresight.
Allowing his chief political adviser to bill the treasury for $200,000 in moving expenses is another such example.
As the caretaker for the Liberal party’s brand, which was tarnished by graft when they last held office, we’d expect the PM to be hyper-vigilant about this sort of thing.
He also came to office on the promise of more transparency, which our previous PM had a famous aversion to.
For Trudeau’s sake and for the sake of all Canadians, we expect better in the future. Too much time in the sun, and you can get burned.
