Time for Trudeau to take responsibility
When it comes to the Jaspal Atwal fiasco, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made it clear there’s lots of blame to go around.
Except none of the blame has ended up at the top, where ultimately blame should go to rest. It’s called leadership.
This lack of accountability has now created a diplomatic dust-up with India as the prime minister drags his disastrous trip to that country around with him like some type of leg iron.
Even the old reliable, a federal budget, turned out to be a comet when it came to distractions, briefly shining brightly before flaming out.
When Atwal, a self-proclaimed buddy of the prime minister (denied by his office) and convicted wouldbe assassin of an Indian cabinet minister, attended an official function hosted by the Canadian High Commission in Mumbai last week and showed up on the guest list for another official event in New Delhi, his invitation was rescinded. Cue the blame game. First, Trudeau fingered the man who is said to have invited him, British Columbia Liberal backbencher Randeep Sarai, who took a minor fall Tuesday evening following a meeting with the prime minister.
In resigning as chair of the Liberal Pacific caucus, Sarai said he wanted “to again apologize for my role in recent unfortunate events. Moving forward, I will be exercising better judgment.”
There clearly was a lapse in judgment, but there are officials who should correct the lapse so an invitation doesn’t become a series of damaging photos.
Sarai may have had the matches, but there are many layers above him responsible for ensuring that spark did not become an inferno.
So the Trudeau government aimed a bit higher.
It trotted out a senior official with the explanation that factions within the Indian government conspired to get Atwal to the events to embarrass a Canadian government thought to be too close to Sikh separatists.
Trudeau would have you believe the official, his security adviser Daniel Jean, is some type of independent truth-teller who had to get the information out to Canadians without any involvement of Trudeau’s office.
More likely Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer’s explanation that Jean was pushed onto the stage to try to change the channel on a brutal news cycle dogging Trudeau.
Trudeau backed Jean Wednesday, but he never explained how Jean ended up briefing reporters on background.
Monday, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, perhaps the most trusted hand in Trudeau’s cabinet, shot down the conspiracy theory in Trudeau’s absence.
The next day, Trudeau had a different story, saying, “When one of our top diplomats and security officials says something to Canadians, it is because they know it to be true.”
He largely maintained that stance Wednesday, repeating his trust and belief in his security officials.
This after a spokesperson for India’s external affairs minister called Trudeau’s claim “baseless and unacceptable” and flatly denied that the Indian government or its security agencies had anything to do with Atwal’s presence or invitation to any of Trudeau’s events.
As the Times of India put it, “India-Canada relations appear headed into rough weather again . . . ” There is a growing checklist of lapses in judgment and inept damage control by Trudeau and his inner circle.
It may not cost him politically, but it is cause for concern.
The lack of judgment that accompanied a decision to spend a holiday on the Aga Khan’s private island was left to fester for a year and the controversy bookended 2017, ending with the finding that Trudeau violated four conflict-of-interest provisions.
More recently, Trudeau met with released hostage Joshua Boyle and his family less than two weeks before Boyle was charged with more than a dozen criminal offences, including sexual assault, assault, unlawful confinement and uttering threats.
At that time, Trudeau also professed the highest confidence in his national security advisers and intelligence officials.
Maybe it is time the prime minister admitted that confidence is misplaced.
Somebody dropped the ball on the Atwal visit and casting blame from a backbencher to rogue elements in the world’s largest democracy is unbecoming.
It comes with the job of prime minister to take the heat and ultimately agree that you or someone in your office made a mistake.
You can wrongly argue the Aga Khan was a friend and you can tie the can to a backbench MP and you can slide into a diplomatic tiff with an ally.
Or you can be accountable and say the loonie stops here.