Justin Trudeau: A Premiership Filled With Corruption & Inadequacy
By: Kevin Liu
Tags: Op Ed, Trudeau, Politics, Cdnpoli

The Corrupt Cabinet

The level of democratic undermining and corruption currently present in the current Liberal cabinet is unprecedented in Canadian history. With Trudeau at the helm, the current government has been able to get away with multiple incidences of corruption while the media, namely the CBC, covers them up. This is a blatant attack on the values of our country and has no place in our government or society. One of the most noticeable political incidences that have happened in the past five years was the SNC-Lavalin affair.

The SNC-Lavalin affair was a major scandal that took place in 2018, when Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion launched an investigation and concluded that the Prime Minister’s Office had interfered with the Justice Department’s corruption and fraud investigation into the Quebec construction firm, SNC-Lavalin. It was alleged that Trudeau had pressured the former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould to consider a deferred prosecution agreement, which would spare the construction giant of any criminal charges.

Wilson-Raybould appeared before the justice committee on Feb. 27 and claimed that she “experienced a consistent sustained effort by many people within the government to seek to politically interfere in the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in [her] role as the attorney general.” In the testimony, she revealed the Prime Minister’s intention behind the corruption. He had told her that many jobs would have disappeared if the company was to be charged and that the company would move from Montreal, affecting his role as MP in Quebec.

Jody Wilson-Raybould testifying before the Commons justice committee meeting. (Source: The Canadian Press)

Not only is Trudeau blatantly guilty of corruption, but he also attempts to silence those who speak out against him. Wilson-Raybould was shortly ejected from the caucus after this incident, as well as Jane Philpott, the former President of the Treasury Board. It’s truly sickening that any Prime Minister would attempt to interfere with legal proceedings, as well as punish those who rightly challenge him. As former Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer remarked, “The Liberals continue to believe that there is one set of rules for Liberals and their friends and another set of rules for everybody else.” Trudeau seems to believe that he is above the law and that he would not be held accountable for his actions. Fortunately, this was not the case, and the Ethics Commissioner swiftly delivered justice.

Despite this despicable and disgusting act, the Liberals were still able to hold onto a minority government in the 2019 federal election. Canadians, for whatever reason, still believed it was acceptable for a criminal to retain his seat and position in government. Some may argue that it was a one-time event and that we would be able to move on. However, Trudeau showed just how demoralized he is once again in 2020 when he was caught in a conflict of interest case with the WE Charity.

On June 25, 2020, Trudeau’s government announced that the WE Charity would administer a $912 million student service grant as part of the $9 billion COVID financial aid for post-secondary students. It was aimed at giving paid volunteering opportunities to those who could not find jobs in the summer. $43.53 million would be paid to WE Charity for their administration of the CSSG. However, shortly after the federal government awarded the WE Charity with the sole-source contract, Trudeau’s close ties to the organization became a concern. Both Trudeau, his mother, and his brother have spoken at multiple events through which they were paid approximately $282,000 by the charity in total.

WE Charity co-founders, Craig and Marc Kielburger (far left and far right) introducing Justin Trudeau and his wife at an event in Ottawa in 2015. (Source: The Canadian Press)

At the time of the contract decision, both Trudeau and the finance minister, Bill Morneau who had also had ties to the organization, failed to recuse themselves from the discussion, potentially breaking the Conflicts of Interest Act. Subsection 6(1) of the act prohibits public office holders from making decisions that further their own private interests or the interests of another person.

Furthermore, Trudeau is also being investigated by the ethics commissioner under other sections of the act dealing with failing to recuse oneself from any matter that would present a conflict of interest. During the incident, Morneau resigned as finance minister after coming under fire for taking free trips in 2017 paid by the charity. Since the controversy, the contract has been cancelled and the CSSG has been abandoned.

Even though Canadians gave Trudeau a second chance, it is still evident that he is the same person in 2018, and that he will continue to take advantage of his power in order to advance not the interests of the public, but the interests of himself, his own family, and his close friends.