Justin Trudeau’s vacation with the Aga Khan proves the details matter

Locutus

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Earlier this week, I argued the initial refusal of the Prime Minister’s Office to divulge the location of Justin Trudeau’s vacation, in even the most general terms, was cause for concern — even more so once it turned out the answer was so apparently anodyne: Trudeau and family had flown to the Bahamas, the PMO explained, and were holidaying somewhere in the area. In my view, that was all that needed to be said at the time. That the PMO would be so hesitant to release such harmless information augured poorly, I argued, for how it would deal with things it really didn’t want Canadians to know.

A steady torrent of objections began filling my inbox. Are politicians not entitled to private lives? “Get a life!” I was admonished at least twice. “If we continue to belittle government and treat them with suspicion they will likely return the compliment,” one very polite correspondent suggested. Even some people clearly unenamoured of the PM — including one who referred to him as “Turdo” — suggested I was being quite ridiculous. “Your write-up is useless!” he complained.


A year earlier, the PMO had refused to divulge that the Trudeaus were in St. Kitts, until TMZ tracked them down. I suspected the same thing was happening again: they were enjoying a fairly conventional vacation, by the standards of people with significant means, and for some reason the PMO just didn’t want anyone to know about it. But then a little birdie alighted on my shoulder with some solid intel: the Trudeaus had been guests of the Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the Ismailis, on his lavish private island, Bells Cay.

The PMO initially refused to confirm this to my colleague David Akin, but eventually came clean. “As you are aware, his Highness and the prime minister have been close family friends for many years,” Kate Purchase wrote in a statement Friday. “As is the usual course, the prime minister will be reimbursing the costs of his (and his family’s) flights to and from Nassau.”

Why, I was repeatedly asked, would journalists bother demanding to know where the PM is on vacation? This. This is why. If journalists hadn’t asked, we might never have known something that is — at the very least — unambiguously in the public interest. Since 2004, as Akin reported, federal taxpayers have handed the Aga Khan Foundation $310 million in foreign aid, including the current government’s recent commitment of $55 million over five years for aid work in Afghanistan.


By all accounts the Aga Khan is a fine fellow and his foundation does wonderful work. And he is, as Purchase said, a close friend of the Trudeau family. But there is a reason his foundation is formally registered as an organization that lobbies the federal government: it’s competing for Canadian taxpayers’ money with which to do those good works, and that competition is supposed to be reasonably transparent. And it seems the Aga Khan just gave the Prime Minister of Canada and some of his friends and family a free vacation in paradise — one even the Trudeaus might struggle to afford on their own. Many will quite understandably perceive that as a conflict of interest. And there is no indication Canadians ever would have known about it had Trudeau and his office been left to determine the appropriate level of disclosure.

Indeed, had the PMO just said right off the bat that the family was in the Bahamas, media inquiries might have been rather less intense. Instead it defaulted to secrecy, piquing journalists’ interest all the more, and now we know they were concealing something that mattered. “Demanding to know what the government is doing, like demanding to know what it’s spending, can never be a piecemeal undertaking,” I argued in my original column. You can’t let it off the hook when things seem to “not matter.”

Again, people asked: Why? Again: This. This is why.



Chris Selley: Justin Trudeau’s vacation with the Aga Khan proves the details matter | National Post
 

Scooby

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Liberals are so blindly enamoured with themselves that they often fail to see how corrupt they are.

" All is fair in love, war and the actions of a social justice warrior."
 

pgs

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Oh yeah, and your hero steve never had any dealings with Aga Khan at all. Next
I don't believe Steve ( as you call him ) holidayed for free at the Aga's private island . Maybe you can enlighten me .
 

DaSleeper

Trolling Hypocrites
May 27, 2007
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Sniffity sniff.
Trying to outdo you father as a clown?
It explains a lot....I think you are succeeding..... Carry on....Clown!

 

Dixie Cup

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Sep 16, 2006
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It seems that the PM & the PMO are being very disingenuous. After all, he said (with a straight face yet), how accountable and forth coming his government is - NOT. If it wasn't for journalists who actually had the balls to dig deeper, (which leaves most of the MSM out) we wouldn't know about the "cash for access" or trips like this one.


The PM and his family, like anyone else, is allowed to take vacations but that's what they need to be - vacations. As the PM, he needs to be aware of perceptions and what could be construed as conflict of interest. But, of course, our "selfie" PM is quite self-centered so he would not consciously be aware or if he is, doesn't care. Someone needs to take him by the hand and have a little "talk" with him.


JMHO
 

Keepitsimple

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Apr 28, 2016
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It's very disappointing. After promising an ultra-ethical government, this "new" iteration of Liberals has demonstrated the same failings that doomed the party to the wilderness over a decade ago - arrogance, entitlement, and it seems, a complete contempt for ethics. The bloom is rapidly coming off the rose. Very disappointing indeed. We deserve much better.
 

PoliticalNick

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Mar 8, 2011
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But...but....Justine is entitled to his private vacation. Just like he is entitled to spend $38 million in additions and renos to Sussex Drive. One has to wonder what is being done for that money when you think about some of the Beverly Hills or Malibu mansions that can be built for 1/3 of that.
 

Cannuck

Time Out
Feb 2, 2006
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Looks like Trump and Trudeau are neck and neck in their quest to win The Upper Class Twit Of The Year award. 2017 is gonna be a fun year
 

Locutus

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Jun 18, 2007
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looks like you're still powerless to stay out of my guaranteed mighty threads.

man, do I ever live in your head kid. :lol:
 

taxslave

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But...but....Justine is entitled to his private vacation. Just like he is entitled to spend $38 million in additions and renos to Sussex Drive. One has to wonder what is being done for that money when you think about some of the Beverly Hills or Malibu mansions that can be built for 1/3 of that.

It is rather a waste of money to repair that decrepit old building. Much less waste of taxpayers' money to buid a new palace. But someone who doesn't have to pay for it decided it is a historical building and therefore must be preserved. FUk the expense. Personally I would have demolished it and gave trudOWE a doublewide to live in.