Politicians must recuse themselves

Justin Trudeau no doubt breathed a sigh of relief after Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion found that the prime minister’s involvement in granting a federal contract to the WE charity did not breach the Conflict of Interest Act.

Trudeau said Dion’s report confirms what he has always contended. He told CTV News the goal of the contract was to expedite support for Canadian youth during the pandemic.

“My job as prime minister is to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes by providing direct support to people and businesses to get through this. That’s what our government has done.”

Trudeau previously denied attempting to influence decisions on the contract and has apologized for not recusing himself during cabinet discussions.

Of course, not everyone in the federal Liberal benches was exonerated when it comes to their involvement with the awarding of the ill-fated contract which would pay WE $43.5 million to oversee a $900-million fund for student jobs.

Former finance minister Bill Morneau, according to Dion, placed himself in a conflict of interest on several occasions, and “afforded WE preferential treatment by permitting members of his ministerial staff to disproportionately assist a constituent.”

Dion’s report brings an end to a saga that had the opposition crying foul and launching committee reports, an uproar that led to Morneau’s resignation last summer.

That’s the political toll. The collateral damage was cancellation of the contract and the closing of the WE charity’s operations in Canada.

Dion’s findings should serve as a lesson to the prime minister, all sitting politicians and anyone who aspires to hold political office.

That lesson? If elected, you cannot be involved in the awarding of a contract to a business or organization that you or any of your family members have any involvement in.

No matter how pure your intention, or how much good the deal will do, being part of the process is unethical and cannot be tolerated.

Politicians must do what Morneau and Trudeau didn’t do during the awarding of this contract to the WE Charity — recuse themselves.

Declare a conflict right away and then get out of decision-making Dodge.

It’s the right thing to do. It’s the choice that avoids controversy and allows time and resources to be focused on the tasks at hand, especially in this case.

When this controversy broke, we were at the beginning of a global pandemic and the efforts and energies of everyone in Ottawa should have been solely on helping Canadians get through it, not on the involvement of the PM and his finance minister in the awarding of a contract.

We’re not out of the pandemic yet (although we’re hopefully a lot closer than a year ago).

We expect better of Trudeau — and all politicians — when it comes to the awarding of contracts.