Canada's NDP

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January 12th, 2017

Statement from NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, following the Prime Minister’s admission of breaking the Conflict of Interest Act.

“At the beginning of a tour of Canada, which the Prime Minister is trying to use to shift the focus away from his government’s recent ethical breaches, he has admitted to breaking the law.

Following revelations of the unethical cash for access fundraisers, Liberals maintained that while they may be breaking their own rules, they did not technically break the law. In this case, Justin Trudeau has admitted to breaking the law.

The Conflict of Interest Act clearly forbids the Prime Minister and his Ministers from taking trips on private aircraft for non-government purposes. He claims that this was a family vacation and not government work. These were not exceptional circumstances and therefore cannot excuse the use of a private helicopter. This is a clear conflict of interest and it’s worrisome that the Prime Minister has been so evasive about the specifics of this trip.

Instead of more deflections and talking points, the Prime Minister must come clean with the Ethics Commissioner as well as Canadians and reveal all the details of this trip, which he admits breaks the law. ”