REALITY CHECK: The Liberal Culture of Conflicts of Interests

Yesterday, the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner once again censured the Liberals for violating the Conflict of Interest Act.

This comes as no surprise as the Liberals have a long history of censure. This is the fifth time!

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been censured twice: once for his vacation with the Aga Khan and once for the SNC-Lavalin affair. In 2019, it was Dominic Leblanc who was censured. Rounding out the picture is former Finance Minister Bill Morneau who just received his second reprimand.

This time, the Commissioner determined that Morneau was a close friend of the Kielburgers, while noting that "there is no doubt that Mr. Kielburger’s interests would have been furthered had WE administered the CSSG. WE was the lone administrator of the CSSG and would have acquired a significant financial interest for its role."

The Commissioner goes even further by arguing that Mr. Morneau used his influence to enable WE Charity to obtain contracts with provinces and municipalities. Really?

Justin Trudeau had only this to offer in his defence:

“At the heart of this initiative was getting support for youth during this pandemic as fast as possible.”

Really? Craig Kielburger is 38 years old. A little old to consider him "young", don't you think? And yet, he would have pocketed $43 million to run this program.

As for students, they’re still waiting. A year later.

The Prime Minister’s inability to admit his government broke the law to help their rich friends is becoming farcical.

Canadians deserve better than a government with loose ethics when it comes to helping their rich friends get richer.