Justin Trudeau using a psychological trick For months, Justin Trudeau has said all of his paid speeches as an MP, where he sold his time for up to $20,000 for half-hour talks with private clients, were approved by Parliament’s ethics commissioner. It was a weak argument to begin with: Even if it looked dirty, it was all approved by a bureaucrat. But now we learn Trudeau did not clear any of his individual speeches by the commissioner. When he was first elected MP, he simply told her he had a speaking business. So he did not disclose to the commissioner, for example, that he took $20,000 from a labour union, continuing to pocket union money even while Parliament was debating the future of unions. Is that why he has been such a ferocious critic of the Conservatives’ new rules for union financial disclosure? Neither did Trudeau disclose to her that he was taking thousands of dollars from universities, colleges and high schools, even as he was the Liberals’ youth and post-secondary education critic. Nor did he tell her that some of the same universities that paid him five-figure cheques later lobbied him, in his capacity as an MP. Is that why he constantly argues for more government grants for universities? Trudeau has told reporters that he has “raised the bar” for accountability. The only raising of the bar is the shocking amount of money he has made renting himself out: $966,500 since first announcing his run for Parliament. This is surely an unprecedented sum for an MP, mainly for the reason that few other MPs would ever think of charging for a speech. Taxpayers have already paid for Trudeau’s time — as an MP, he makes $157,000 a year, plus expenses. But Trudeau actually skipped parliamentary work to go to many of these private speeches, missing key votes, including votes on Liberal motions. But what about the use of parliamentary resources? A non-profit group in Edmonton contacted Trudeau’s Parliament Hill office to invite him to speak to them. Trudeau’s staff, paid by taxpayers, in a taxpayers’ office, using taxpayers’ phones and computers, directed that non-profit group to call Trudeau’s private speaking agent. When they did, they were told that for $20,000 he’d visit their group. Justin Trudeau was using his government staff to refer private business for himself. They directed leads to his lucrative speaking business. Did Trudeau ever go one step further — and bill taxpayers for travel to these speaking engagements? We know he double-billed for his time — charging speaking clients while also collecting his MP’s pay when he was supposed to be in Parliament. Did he ever double-bill for travel — getting taxpayers and the client to pay the same invoice? It’s a question the NDP have asked. And two weeks ago Trudeau denied it, and said he was happy to release all of his travel documents to prove it. But he still hasn’t released them. Why not? How can Trudeau square the public interest with his private interests? How can he justify skipping Parliament to grab some quick cash? How can he accept huge payments from unions and corporations and lobby firms that would be illegal if they were called political donations? He uses a psychological trick. Here’s what he told Sun Media last Thursday: “While speaking as an MP I’ve never charged anyone a single penny. “Any work that I did … was completely separate from my role and identity as an MP. I never took a cent, I never charged a cent of anyone as an MP or while an MP.” So there are two Justin Trudeaus — like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Public servant and private profiteer. He can just flip a switch depending on which ethical rules he chooses to follow at any given time. It’s safe to guess that he didn’t run that handy ethical guide by the ethics commissioner prior to his first speeches as an MP either. torontosun/2013/06/21/justin-trudeau-using-a-psychological-trick
Posted on: Sun, 23 Jun 2013 04:41:47 +0000
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