Time for review of the Trudeau years of ethics scandals

[blackbird]

Since we are in an election it is wise to review the ethics violations of the previous government.  

This should play a major factor in helping decide who to vote for in this election.  How a government performed in its previous terms is of course a major factor on whether they should deserve the right to form the next government.

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RIGHT DISHONOURABLE: Scandals that defined the Trudeau era

Here's a list of some of the more notable goofs, scandals and blunders that defined the Trudeau era

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s nearly decade-long time in office was defined by a regular stream of scandals, faux pas and controversies — many of which brought the PM to his knees but, against all odds, managed to maintain the confidence of his party.

While this list doesn’t cover everything, here’s a sampling of some of the biggest blunders, goofs and scandals committed by the PM and his government over the past 10 years."

CASH-FOR-ACCESS SCANDAL (2016)

In Dec. 2016, The Globe and Mail reported pricey Liberal Party cash-for-access events held at homes of wealthy Chinese-Canadians, charging attendees as much as $1,525 each in exchange for one-on-one time with the PM.

AGA KHAN AFFAIR (2016)

Among the first defining scandals of Trudeau’s administration was the PM’s infamous eight-day 2016 Christmas vacation at the Aga Khan’s private island in The Bahamas.

While the PMO concealed the trip from public view, the story — broken by the National Post — was later confirmed, touching off an ethics investigation that saw Trudeau become the first PM in Canadian history found guilty of ethics breaches.

ELBOWGATE (2016)

Trudeau’s attempt to manhandle the Conservative whip during a vote resulted in a female MP being elbowed in the chest, prompting a flurry of apologies from the PM.

During an attempt to delay a third-reading vote on an assisted dying bill on May 18, 2016, Trudeau grabbed Conservative Whip Gord Brown by the arm to lead him away from MPs gathered on the floor of the House of Commons.

INDIA TRIP (2018)

Among the more memorable blunders from the Trudeau era was the infamous 2018 state visit to India, which saw the PM — still riding high in popularity both at home and around the world — engage in some embarrassing behaviour.

Despite being invited by Indian PM Narendra Modi, Trudeau and his family were greeted at the airport by an agricultural minister.

Among invitees to a state dinner during Trudeau’s visit were Sikh extremist Jaspar Atwal — one of four people convicted in a 1986 plot to murder Indian cabinet minister Malkiat Singh Sidhu.

Seemingly unwilling to settle on locally-produced food, the government paid over $17,000 to fly Canadian celebrity chef Vikram Vij to India from Vancouver to prepare food for the PM and his entourage at a number of events.

KOKANEE GROPE (2018)

In June 2018, a screenshot of a two-decade old editorial published in a local B.C. newspaper accused Trudeau of “groping” and “inappropriately handling” a reporter sent to cover the August 2000 Kokanee Summit Festival on behalf of the National Post.

The event was a fundraiser commemorating Trudeau’s brother Michel, killed by a 1998 avalanche while skiing in Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park.

SNC LAVALIN AFFAIR (2019)

Among the most notable Trudeau scandals began with a February 2019 Globe and Mail article alleging attempts to waylay prosecution in a corruption case involving Quebec-based construction giant SNC-Lavalin, now known as AtkinsRealis.

That article went to print shortly after former cabinet member Jody Wilson-Raybould was demoted from Justice Minister to Veteran’s Affairs after reportedly refusing requests to offer deferred prosecution to the company, sparing the firm a conviction that would ban it from bidding on government contracts for a decade.

WE CHARITY SCANDAL (2020)

The Trudeau government’s April 2020 decision to enlist WE — an international children’s charity founded by brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger — to operate their $912 million Canada Student Service Grant program touched off a scandal that, once again, put the PM in the middle of yet another situation involving questionable ethics.

BLACKFACE (2019)

A bombshell during the 2019 federal election saw Trudeau come face-to-face with allegations he’d darkened his skin to act as racist caricatures on numerous occasions.

THE FREEDOM CONVOY (2022)

The Trudeau government’s handling of the Freedom Convoy, one of the largest protest mobilizations in Canadian history, came under intense criticism.

THE TRIPS

Aside from the infamous India trip, the Trudeau era is marked with numerous questionable uses of government money and aircraft for excursions both local and abroad — including 2015’s trip to COP21, where $800,000 was spent to send 283 delegates to the Paris summit.

The United States, in contrast, only sent 124 delegates.

“Nothing says saving the planet like posing for pictures as you dine on the taxpayer dime in France,” the CTF’s Kris Sims told the Sun.

OTHER NOTABLE SCANDALS/FAUXS PAS:

2017: Trudeau makes his infamous “Welcome to Canada” tweet, which touched off a wave of illegal entries into Canada at illegal border crossings — most notoriously at Roxham Rd. on the Quebec/New York state border

2018: Arrest and subsequent detention of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at Vancouver airport on a U.S. extradition request, a move that would result in the summary arrest of Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig by the Chinese government. They would be released after 1,019 days in detention on Sept. 24, 2021, the same day Canada released Meng from custody

2017-2021: Appointment, and subsequent resignation, of Governor General Julie Payette

2019: Vice-Adm. Mark Norman affair

2020: Bill C-11, the controversial Online Streaming Act, is tabled in the House of Commons

2020: The infamous May 2020 order-in-council summarily banning thousands of semi-automatic firearms is introduced

2020: Questionable response to COVID-19 pandemic, including bungling disbursement of support money, vaccine mandates and questionable vaccine procurement

2020: ArriveCan scandal, where an $80,000 pandemic-era travel app ballooned into costing nearly $60M, and raised questions surrounding how government contracts get handed out

2021: Gen. Jonathan Vance affair

2021: Government tables bill C-21, its far-reaching and contentious gun control legislation

2021: Trudeau and cabinet abstaining from China Uighurs genocide vote

2021: A mansion belonging to property developer Wei Wei is raided by police as part of an underground gambling investigation in July 2020. Toronto Life Magazine later revealed that Wei had attended pricey Liberal party fundraisers and posed with photos with Trudeau, and was a member of a Chinese industry delegation that had connections to million-dollar donations to the Trudeau Foundation

2022: Media reports reveal the Trudeau Liberals had paid billions in consultancy fees during their time in office, including over $110 million to McKinsey & Company

2022: The Liberals and NDP sign their infamous supply and confidence agreement that would protect the minority Liberals from being toppled by non-confidence votes. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh publicly tore up the agreement last September, but kept supporting the government

2023: Media reports uncover the scale and scope of Chinese interference in Canadian affairs, including allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections and threats to Canadian politicians. The PMO was given reports from intelligence officials on the meddling as early as 2017, including warnings that candidates may be part of Chinese interference attempts, but allegedly ignored the warnings

2023: The federal government announces attempts to recoup the $112,000 anti-racism grant awarded to a group associated with activist Laith Marouf, who routinely posted antisemitic material on social media

2024: Global Affairs Canada purchases $9 million condo in Manhattan for consul general

2024: Randy Boissonnault implosion — including pandemic-era federal contracts granted to a company he co-owned, and changing stories on his supposed Indigenous background

2024: Sustainable Development Technology Canada program, better known as the “green slush fund” scandal

For more details about scandals:

RIGHT DISHONOURABLE: Scandals that defined the Trudeau era | Toronto Sun

[CdnFox]

Some of those are just the sort of gaffes and scandals that every political party or person has. Anyone in power is going to have something you can point to and say wow, that didn't look good.

But the sheer number involving corruption and grift and the like is simply staggering. Gretchen was played by that kind of stuff but nowhere near the extent that we see with Trudeau. It truly is unbelievable and now he's off living on 3 million bucks a year that we know about from being on boards of directors from companies he funneled money into one way or another and will live out his life rich on the canadian taxpayers backs.