OTTAWA –Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been in hot water ever since it was revealed he took a controversial vacation to the Aga Khan’s private island in the Bahamas over the holidays.
It was revealed this week that he wasn’t the only Liberal politician on the guest list.
Reports surfaced thiss week that Liberal MP Seamus O’Regan and Federal Liberal Party President Anna Gainey, along with their respective spouses, joined the prime minister on the vacation.
Before the story broke earlier this week, Trudeau was asked if there were any other politicians on the trip but he wouldn’t say.
“This is our family vacation and I will answer any other questions that the Ethics Commissioner has for me.”
A Conservative Party leadership candidate has complained to the commissioner, claiming this may breach the Conflict of Interest Act, since the vacation could be seen as a gift from a lobbyist. The Aga Khan’s foundation has received tens of millions of dollars from Ottawa over the past dozen years and Trudeau has called him a close friend of his family.
The commissioner’s office confirms it has received the complaint and says it is considering the request.
As an MP O’Regan falls under different ethics rules but told one media outlet he already talked to the commissioner about the trip and is reimbursing the Aga Khan for the cost of a helicopter ride to the private island.
But one supposed defenders of Trudeau wrote in a mock-satirical piece which said, “Canadians don’t need to know where Trudeau is, so why should they have the right to know where he is? Right?
“Enough, already,” wrote CBC’s Robyn Urback in a funny yet critical view of Trudeau’s vacation at a friend’s island who receives millions – but so what? LOL
“The prime minister works hard. He’s a nice guy. He deserves a private life. Certainly that justifies a complete blackout on the prime minister’s whereabouts, as the PMO issued earlier this month.
“Canadians don’t need to know where Trudeau is, so why should they have the right to know where he is? Yes, the Liberals were elected on a platform of “openness,” but — as mentioned earlier — Trudeau is a nice guy. For that reason, we probably should have cut him the slack we would have never afforded his less popular predecessor,” Urback wrote.
