OTTAWA — Opposition parties are calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to repay all or part of the transportation and security costs for a Christmas vacation to the Aga Khan's private Bahamian island last year — which left taxpayers on the hook for more than $200,000.
Conservative ethics critic Peter Kent says Trudeau owes it to Canadians to pay the bill after ethics commissioner Mary Dawson found the prime minister violated four different provisions of the Conflict of Interest Act when he and members of his family accepted the trip last December.
Dawson concluded that the vacation could reasonably be seen as a gift designed to influence the prime minister, whose government has had official dealings with the Aga Khan, a billionaire philanthropist and spiritual leader of the world's Ismaili Muslims, and his charitable foundation.
NDP ethics critic Nathan Cullen is also urging Trudeau to pay the tab for the trip.
Moreover, Cullen says the fact that Dawson has no power to penalize Trudeau, other than by publicly shaming him, demonstrates that the Conflict of Interest Act needs to be strengthened — something his party will be pushing for in the new year.
A spokesperson for the prime minister says Trudeau reimbursed the cost of his and his family's flights to and from Nassau but would not disclose the precise tab.
FIVE THINGS FROM ETHIC COMMISSIONER'S REPORT ON PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU
OTTAWA — Ethics commissioner Mary Dawson released a report Wednesday concluding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau violated conflict of interest rules when he vacationed last Christmas at the private island owned by the Aga Khan. Here are five key findings from the report:
1. The Aga Khan did not meet the definition of a friend.
There is an exception in the Conflict of Interest Act for gifts or other advantages from relatives and friends, but Dawson found it did not apply in this case. Dawson's report said the Aga Khan's relationship with Trudeau's father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, developed in the 1960s.
That family friendship facilitated the current prime minister's friendship with the Aga Khan, but Dawson said it was still unlikely the vacation offer would have been extended to Trudeau "had there not been official interactions between the government of Canada and the Aga Khan and had Mr. Trudeau not become a significant player on the Canadian political scene."
Trudeau said Wednesday he still sees the spiritual leader to be a "family friend" despite Dawson's determination.
2. The prime minister broke the rules on gifts.
Dawson found Trudeau breached section 11 the act pertaining to gifts or "other advantages" when he and members of his family accepted the Aga Khan's "gift of hospitality" and the use of his private island. There were official dealings with the Aga Khan and his foundation — the Aga Khan Foundation of Canada — who were registered to lobby the Prime Minister's Office, Dawson said. She said the vacations could reasonably be seen to have been given to influence Mr. Trudeau in his capacity as prime minister.
3. Flights were an issue.
Dawson found Trudeau breached another section of the act when his family travelled on a non-commercial aircraft chartered by the Aga Khan in March 2016 and when he and his family travelled in the spiritual leader's private helicopter in December 2016.
The act bars ministers and their family members from accepting travel on non-commercial chartered or private aircraft for any purpose unless it is in their capacity as public office holders, in exceptional circumstances or with the prior approval of the commissioner — none of which Dawson found in this case.
4. Trudeau failed to take steps to arrange his private affairs.
Dawson found the prime minister failed to arrange his private business in a way that would prevent him from being placed in a conflict of interest when his family vacation on the Aga Khan's private island in March 2016, and when Trudeau joined them on the island in December 2016.
Trudeau told Dawson he felt he could pursue a friendship with the Aga Khan after becoming Liberal leader, and then prime minister. Dawson called this understandable in light of the previous family connection and the fact they share common ideals and goals.
However, she said Trudeau must put on hold his pursuit of friendships with individuals he is likely to have official dealings with: "Mr. Trudeau must ensure that he has arranged his private affairs so that they are not incompatible with his public duties as prime minister of Canada."
5. Trudeau failed to recuse himself from talks that gave an opportunity to further interests with the Aga Khan:
Dawson said Trudeau broke section 21 of the Conflict of Interest Act when he failed to remove himself from discussions that provided an opportunity to advance private interests associated with institutions of the Aga Khan.
This part of the act requires public office holders to recuse themselves from any discussion, decision, debate or vote on any matter they would be in a conflict of interest.
However, Dawson said Trudeau didn't take part in any votes or decisions, nor provide the Aga Khan's foundation any preferential treatment.
SOME KEY QUOTES AFTER ETHICS WATCHDOG'S RULING THAT TRUDEAU BROKE CONFLICT RULES
OTTAWA — Here's a selection of some quotes Wednesday after the federal ethics commissioner concluded that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau violated conflict of interest rules when he vacationed at the private island owned by the Aga Khan:
"Because there was ongoing official business between the Government of Canada and the Aga Khan at the time each invitation was accepted, Mr. Trudeau, as Prime Minister, was in a position to be able to advance some of the matters of interest to the Aga Khan. As well, the Foundation was registered to lobby the Office of the Prime Minister at that time. For these reasons, I determined that the vacations accepted by Mr. Trudeau or his family might reasonably be seen to have been given to influence Mr. Trudeau." — report by federal ethics commissioner Mary Dawson.
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"This is an important issue. We have a system in place to protect the integrity of the office of prime minister and the integrity of our institutions. And it is important that as we move forward we learn from this mistake. I take full responsibility for it. We need to make sure that the office of the prime minister is without reproach and in the future, including on family friends and personal family trips, we will be proactively working with the office of the commissioner to ensure that there is no conflict of interest, no appearance of conflict of interest." — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
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"I consider the Aga Khan to be a family friend. I fully accept the report of the Commissioner. Her responsibility is to protect the integrity of the office. She made a determination that he is not a family friend. I still consider him a family friend, but moving forward, even on people I consider to be family friends or friends, I will be proactively checking with the Aga, with the Commissioner on any personal travel and vacations." — Trudeau.
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"I know that the Liberals would like to try to make it seem like this wasn't a big deal, that this was potentially a lack of judgment or a lapse in judgment. But it's important that Canadians can have confidence in their institutions and in their politicians — in people who have great power in this country. The prime minister and the finance minister being the two most powerful politicians in our system. And that in order to be trusted with that power, they have to be open and transparent and accountable." — Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer.
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"It's really troubling. I can be honest with you, I had a lot of hope in this government. I had a lot of hope in this prime minister, thinking that things would be done differently, that we would have a government that we could have trust in ... This is unprecedented. It's never happened in the history of our country, as far as we're aware, that a sitting prime minister has broken these laws, has broken these ethics laws, has been found to be in contravention by the ethics commissioner." — NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh.
