Old lessons, taught again

In Canadian politics, it seems like a lesson politicians have a hard time learning.

You’re prime minister, you have to appoint a new superior court judge in a province, and a friend in the federal cabinet, a lawyer, is retiring. It’s a match made in heaven, right?

You’re a premier, and you need private partners in a lawsuit, so you pick your own old law firm without having any kind of competition, because you already know they can handle it.

And, as the politician in question, you may feel your hands are perfectly clean: you know the people who are getting the work, and you know they’ll do a good job. Nothing untoward has happened, there’s no quid pro quo, no deep, dark skulduggery. Not even a whisper of that.

But — and it’s a very big but.

But that doesn’t actually matter. What matters is that, as a politician, you have conflicting interests in the decision: your relationship with those involved.

Sure, your old cabinet colleague might do a good job on the bench — but were they the best person for the job? Sure, your old law firm might be an excellent firm — but are they the most qualified, experienced and the most cost-effective?

That’s not tested openly — there’s no way for the public to see a clean and transparent process that makes sure everyone has the same opportunities.

Now, it seems like it’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s turn to learn the same old tired lesson.

Last week, the federal government announced that it was outsourcing its $912-million student volunteer program to an international charity, WE Charity. Problem is, Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, both have ties to the charity as speakers, with Grégoire Trudeau also acting as a volunteer “ambassador and ally” for the charity.

Trudeau has said, so far, that the public service chose WE Charity, but has refused to even say how much money the charity will make in administration fees, and hasn’t released the terms of the federal contract. (The federal NDP has raised the concern that, as an outside consultant, WE Charity’s actions and decisions will be exempt from federal access-to-information law, among other things.)

It is not a very good look for any politician. And yet it is a pit that politicians fall into again and again and again. Just because you believe you’re doing the right thing, even if you’re absolutely sure you’re doing the right thing, it doesn’t mean it will be seen that way.

When family and friends are somehow in play, all of the rules have to be public, clear and transparent.

You have to be able to prove you’re doing the right thing. Because conflicting interests are obvious to everyone else, even when you can’t conceive of them.