Justin Trudeau – Business as Usual

Many Canadians will remember that not long ago, Justin Trudeau and the Liberals were campaigning on a promise of delivering open, transparent, and fair government. Fast forward four years and a Liberal government later, Prime Minister Trudeau has fallen short on delivering this promise, to say the least. We’ve seen example after example of scandal coming from his office followed by cover-up efforts, including the SNC-Lavalin scandal, which eventually resulted in the Prime Minister’s former principal secretary, Gerald Butts, being forced to resign for his role in it. However, despite Mr. Butts’ involvement in this corruption scandal, it’s business as usual for Justin Trudeau, as we’ve learned Mr. Butts will be playing a key role in the Liberals’ election campaign. 

It’s interesting that all of the main players in the SNC-Lavalin scandal are either working in Prime Minister Trudeau’s office or on his re-election, while Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott were kicked out of the Liberal caucus for speaking truth to power. It’s clear to see that the only people who told Canadians the truth about Trudeau’s corruption have been purged from the Liberal Party of Canada and those who helped him cover it up have been rewarded. This is far from open, transparent, and fair government. 

In welcoming Mr. Butts, a key player in the SNC-Lavalin corruption scandal, back into the Liberal fold, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is once again displaying his terrible judgment. This is outrageous and shows a lack of respect and integrity of our democratic institutions. However, it isn’t surprising. We’ve seen this pattern of behaviour in the past and more recently with his efforts to silence his critics, following media reports that his office tried to muzzle two former Canadian ambassadors to China. He’s defending himself by using the same tactics he used during the SNC-Lavalin scandal. As Canadians know, his early denials in that scandal turned out to be false. It’s now a different scandal, but the denials are the same. 

In late July, the Foreign Affairs Committee met to discuss whether to move forward with a study into the allegations of the Trudeau government applying undue pressure on former career diplomats. Sadly, the Liberal members of the committee used their majority to vote unanimously to cover up the details of this scandal. It’s clear to Canadians Prime Minister Trudeau has learned nothing from the SNC-Lavalin corruption scandal and that he abuses the power of his office to reward his supporters and silence his critics. It’s also clear that when he’s caught, he simply shuts down any attempt at finding the truth. This is not open, transparent, and fair government. 

In 2015, Justin Trudeau promised he would be different. He promised to do politics differently. However, after only four years, he’s shown he’s not as advertised. It continues to be business as usual for him by bringing back Gerald Butts and shutting down a committee to investigate another scandal. Canadians expect and deserve better. Canada’s Conservatives will hold him to account on behalf of Canadians.