Trudeau says he was hired as a professional speaker, not an MP
OTTAWA — Liberal leader Justin Trudeau says he wasn't wearing his MP hat when he accepted paid speaking gigs.
"While speaking as an MP, I've never charged anyone a single penny," he told a crowd in Oakville Thursday where he made an appearance at the Operating Engineers Training Institute of Ontario.
"That's the issue that people stumble over. Any work that I did when hired by charities to make a fundraiser successful was completely separate from my role and identity as an MP."
Many MPs make a secondary income on top of their parliamentary salaries.
Trudeau noted he's spoken at hundreds of events since getting elected in 2008, and all but 17 were unpaid.
"What people don't understand is there are people out there who are professional speakers, who are professional fundraisers," he said, adding the quip: "Just because no one would hire many of my colleagues to actually come and be a draw at an event doesn't mean they're not good parliamentarians."
Still, at one 2010 paid gig in Kingston, to the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, Trudeau's speech focused on his youth and environment portfolios.
He also said while the federal ethics commissioner twice gave him the all-clear to moonlight as a professional speaker, he's "heard from Canadians that people do expect more of me than just to follow the rules."
He offered to refund speaking fees after the Conservatives went public with an appeal by the New Brunswick-based Grace Foundation for their cash back.
That charity has since come under scrutiny for ties to the Tories, though Trudeau has said he'd take them at their word.