Trudeau apologizes, takes responsibility for violating ethics rules

FILE: Justin Trudeau (Photo by Laurel L. Russwurm/Flickr, Public Domain)

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he takes full responsibility for going on a family vacation last year that the ethics watchdog deems broke conflict of interest rules.

Trudeau says he never believed there would be any problems when he and his family vacationed last Christmas at the private Bahamian island owned by the Aga Khan and he plans to get pre-approval from the ethics commissioner for all his family vacations in future.

Ethics commissioner Mary Dawson says in a report today that Trudeau’s vacation last year broke conflict of interest law that prohibits a minister or any member of their family from accepting gifts or “advantages” that could reasonably be seen as influencing government decisions.

The only exception is if the person providing the gift is a friend, but Dawson says that exception didn’t apply, a finding Trudeau disputes.

Dawson says the Aga Khan and his foundation were registered to lobby Trudeau’s office in December 2016, meaning the vacation “could reasonably be seen to have been given to influence Mr. Trudeau in his capacity as Prime Minister.”