A matter of public trust

Expense scandals are about more than wasted public money. They’re also about frittering away public trust. In the wake of his government’s first spending scandal, a relatively minor affair involving the health minister and a high-end limo service, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said: “This situation was a reminder for all of us to be extremely careful about our expenses and about the public trust that we wield.”

The prime minister should not have been surprised by the public fuss kicked up when it emerged this week that two of his most senior aides together billed taxpayers for more than $200,000 in moving expenses after relocating from Toronto to Ottawa. The two involved were chief of staff Katie Telford and principal secretary Gerald Butts; one claimed more than $80,000, the other nearly $127,000. The outrage from the opposition was swift. Getting top talent in Ottawa requires reasonable compensation and benefits, including covering the cost of moving. But obviously there should be limits.

It took barely a day before the Liberals themselves came to the same conclusion. Telford and Butts apologized for the controversy and said they will reimburse the government for some of the expenses.

The unseemly sums at issue suggest that the rules themselves need to be changed and the prime minister should show better judgment in interpreting them. At the very least, greater transparency on the policy and how it is applied would discipline future decisions and help Canadians hold their government to account. The public trust depends on it.