Dawson vs Morneau: if the laws aren’t enough, who should take the next step?
OTTAWA — As controversy rages over whether Bill Morneau’s personal fortune has compromised his work as finance minister, the governing Liberals are taking shelter from the storm in the only place they can find it: the office of ethics commissioner Mary Dawson.
Ask any Liberal MP or cabinet minister the same question Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was asked Friday and you’re likely to hear variations on the same theme: that Morneau followed Dawson’s instructions to the letter in order to avoid ending up in a conflict of interest.
Indeed, Dawson herself has acknowledged that Morneau’s existing system of numbered holding companies in Alberta and Ontario meant that he was already protected, and that a blind trust would not be necessary.
“I’m saying to Canadians that it’s important for all parliamentarians to follow the recommendations made to them by the ethics commissioner,” Trudeau told a news conference in the suburbs of Montreal.