Morneau in a tempest, again

It’s hard to believe that, for the second time in as many months, Finance Minister Bill Morneau is at the centre of an ethics controversy. Barely five weeks ago, it was revealed that the minister had used a loophole to avoid placing his substantial assets in a blind trust, despite leading Canadians to believe he had. And he did this while leading the Liberals’ campaign to smear small- business owners and incorporated professionals as scheming rule- dodgers. We wrote then, “How the prime minister chooses to proceed from here will reveal a lot about how seriously he takes his commitment to holding his ministers to the highest standards.”

Indeed, much has since been revealed. Morneau largely made the original problem go away by pledg- i ng to sell his shares in Morneau Shepell, the family business, and belatedly placing his remaining assets in a blind trust. Since then, however, the Opposition Conservatives have revealed that, i n November 2015, shortly after Morneau took office as Finance Minister, and while he was still in effective control of his assets, more than $10 million worth of shares controlled by the minister were sold just days ahead of an announcement on tax reform that the Conservatives suggest may have contributed to a subsequent drop in the stock market. The timing of the move — just ahead of the market drop — resulted in Morneau netting roughly $ 500,000 more than he would have had he waited.

This is quite the conundrum. We don’t know for certain whether Morneau ordered the sale, as opposed to someone managing his funds. We would also hesitate to suggest the tax-reform announcement was solely or directly responsible for the market drop. But the entire affair stinks. And that’s the problem. Blind trusts are used to prevent cabinet ministers from profiting from their government duties, or even appearing to do so. Had Morneau properly structured his affairs in the first place, he wouldn’t be facing these questions. Or, at least, he’d have a ready defence to offer.

Thus far, he’s had little to say at all, beyond calling the accusations absurd and daring the Conservatives to repeat their statements outside the House of Commons, where they would not be shielded from civil action by parliamentary privilege (Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre immediately complied). The prime minister has also said Morneau still enjoys his confidence. But on Thursday, Global News reported that Morneau’s father also sold off hundreds of thousands of shares just ahead of his son’s announcement about changes to the tax code. The changes would not have directly impacted the sale, so there’s no direct proof of misconduct, but again, the optics are atrocious.

Morneau had a reputation as a decent individual before entering politics. We have no reason to believe that’s changed. But his actions have created a plausible appearance of misconduct. The situation was avoidable, and entirely of his own making. Federal revenue and spending affairs are too important to be left in the charge of a man whose own errors routinely ensnarl him in ethics scandals. Morneau defiantly sticking around is not helping the Liberals, and it’s not helping Canadians.

HAD A REPUTATION AS A DECENT INDIVIDUAL BEFORE POLITICS.