Canada PoliticsJustin Trudeau vows to “make things right” with charities, evokes memory of his father on Father’s Day
Yes, this seems like damage control, but it's a pretty classy move as well.
Justin Trudeau says that he will "make things right" with charity groups that hired him as speaker during his tenure as an MP either by refunding the money they paid him or by speaking for them again, at no charge.
Here are some excerpts from a statement the Liberal leader released on Sunday morning:
Political leadership is about raising the bar on openness and transparency. Canadians faith in public office holders and politics has been seriously shaken in recent weeks by the ethics scandal rooted in a $90,000 payment by the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff to a sitting legislator, and the continued secrecy of the Harper Conservatives
For me, transparency isn’t a slogan or a tactic; it’s a way of doing business. I trust Canadians. I value their opinions. And now that I’ve heard them, I’m going to act.
It is in this spirit that I have decided to reach out to all the organizations that hired me as a professional speaker while I was a Member of Parliament to engage with them to find a satisfactory solution. I am open to exploring all options with them to ensure that they are satisfied with the outcome.
In short, Canadians hold me to a higher standard, as they should. I accept and endorse that expectation. I will continue to work hard to maintain it.
Trudeau has been under fire for months for earning hefty fees from charities before becoming leader but while an MP. The opposition parties have argued that he shouldn't be charging non-profits for speaking to them because that's "part of the job" as a member of Parliament.
On Friday, a letter from the Grace Foundation — a seniors charity in New Brunswick that paid him $20,000 to speak at an event — surfaced asking for a refund because they lost money on a Trudeau-event.
Also, on Friday, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall told Global News that Trudeau should pay back the $20,000 he took to speak at a literacy conference in his province in April 2012.
[ Related: Charity wants Justin Trudeau to return $20,000 he collected for speaking engagement ]
In spite of his pledge to pay the money back, Trudeau insists he did nothing wrong.
"I'm doing not this because I'm worried I did something wrong because I didn't. Everything was done exactly according to the rules," he told CTV's Question Period on Sunday morning.
"But it's Father's Day. We think about our Father's on a day like this. And my father would want me in this situation to live up to Canadians' expectations of me. And the idea of service, the idea of helping people, the idea of leading by example is something that is so important to me that I got from him that I'm going to make this right."
The full CTV interview can be seen here.
[ More Political Points: #NationalStopHarperDay trends on Twitter ]
This could end up being an expensive process for Trudeau.
According to the Ottawa Citizen, the son of Pierre earned $277,000 for speaking engagements since becoming an MP in 2008. A good chunk of the money was earned from publicly funded organizations: in November 2009, for example, he earned $15,000 from the Waterloo Catholic District School Board; in April 2012 he made $10,000 for speaking at Queen's University.
According to a Forum Research poll in March, that didn't sit well with a lot of Canadians.
The poll suggested that 76 per cent of Canadians don't want MPs earning such fees at all, while 57 per cent of respondents think Trudeau should return the speaking fees.
So, by paying back the money, Trudeau appeases the Canadian public and gives the Tories one less target point — a smart move.
(Photo courtesy of Reuters)
Are you a politics junkie?
Follow @politicalpoints on Twitter!
