Let’s imagine you work for the government. Now let’s imagine a charity gave you a $41,000 vacation. Now let’s imagine that very same charity asked you for a $50 million government contract. Remember, you just received a $41,000 vacation from this charity. And now they are asking you for $50 million. What do you do?
You are probably thinking that was easy. Well, easy for you. Not so easy for Bill Morneau, Canada’s multi-millionaire Minister of Finance.
- Give them the money?
- Deny them the money?
- Openly declare that you are in a “conflict of interest” and leave the decision up to someone else?
You are probably thinking that was easy. Well, easy for you. Not so easy for Bill Morneau, Canada’s multi-millionaire Minister of Finance.
You see, Mr. Morneau got a $41,000 vacation from a charity called WE. Now let me stop right there. You’re probably thinking: what kind of “charity” goes around giving away $41,000 vacations, and especially to multi-millionaires? Kind of strange, eh?
And then Mr. Morneau voted to give that very same charity a government contract for $50 million. Unfortunately, Mr. Morneau, with his many years of corporate governance experience and specialized ministerial training, forgot to declare a “conflict of interest.” In other words, he’s not as smart as you are.
Now I suppose you could be forgiven if you suspected something unethical here. Like some kind of quid pro quo like, “you give me free stuff and I will funnel taxpayers money to you.”
But wait, there’s more!
And then Mr. Morneau voted to give that very same charity a government contract for $50 million. Unfortunately, Mr. Morneau, with his many years of corporate governance experience and specialized ministerial training, forgot to declare a “conflict of interest.” In other words, he’s not as smart as you are.
Now I suppose you could be forgiven if you suspected something unethical here. Like some kind of quid pro quo like, “you give me free stuff and I will funnel taxpayers money to you.”
But wait, there’s more!
The Prime Minister’s mother (Margaret Trudeau) was also getting money from the very same “charity.” The charity paid Margaret over $300,000 to give speeches. Let me stop there. You’re probably thinking: what kind of “charity” goes around paying over $300,000 just for speeches? Kind of strange, eh?
And then multi-millionaire Mr. Trudeau voted to give that same charity a government contract for $50 million. Unfortunately, Mr. Trudeau, with his many years of government experience and specialized government training, forgot to declare a “conflict of interest.” In other words, he’s not as smart as you are.
Now I suppose you could be forgiven if you suspected something unethical here. Like some kind of quid pro quo like, “you give my mother lots of money and I will funnel taxpayers money to you.”
But wait, there’s more!
And then multi-millionaire Mr. Trudeau voted to give that same charity a government contract for $50 million. Unfortunately, Mr. Trudeau, with his many years of government experience and specialized government training, forgot to declare a “conflict of interest.” In other words, he’s not as smart as you are.
Now I suppose you could be forgiven if you suspected something unethical here. Like some kind of quid pro quo like, “you give my mother lots of money and I will funnel taxpayers money to you.”
But wait, there’s more!
Let’s imagine you gave away a big $50 million contract to a “charity” that gave you a free $41,000 vacation. What would your boss do to you? You’d get fired. Yep. Fired.
Now it just might interest you to know that Mr. Trudeau is Mr. Morneau’s boss. And you and I probably agree that Mr. Morneau deserves to be fired. Except that Mr. Trudeau is kind of guilty of doing (or failing to do) exactly what Mr. Morneau did (or failed to do). That is, they both gave away a big $50 million government contract in situations where they were both in what seems to be a very obvious conflict of interest.
So who’s going to fire who?
Now I suppose you could be forgiven if you suspected something unethical here. Like some kind of quid pro quo like, “I will turn a blind eye to your indiscretions if you turn a blind eye to mine.”
Now it just might interest you to know that Mr. Trudeau is Mr. Morneau’s boss. And you and I probably agree that Mr. Morneau deserves to be fired. Except that Mr. Trudeau is kind of guilty of doing (or failing to do) exactly what Mr. Morneau did (or failed to do). That is, they both gave away a big $50 million government contract in situations where they were both in what seems to be a very obvious conflict of interest.
So who’s going to fire who?
Now I suppose you could be forgiven if you suspected something unethical here. Like some kind of quid pro quo like, “I will turn a blind eye to your indiscretions if you turn a blind eye to mine.”
But all of that would be quite cynical of us. It would be cynical for taxpayers to believe that the two highest-ranking multi-millionaire elected officials in the federal government specifically concocted a scheme whereby they would funnel taxpayers money to a “charity” that would then use the money to reward politicians and family members. That would be cynical.
But then again, it seems to be very easy just to declare “conflict of interest” and let someone else make the decision. After all, go back to the beginning of this article. Did you get the answer right to the question? If you did, wasn't it easy?
Easy for you. Not so easy for others.
But then again, it seems to be very easy just to declare “conflict of interest” and let someone else make the decision. After all, go back to the beginning of this article. Did you get the answer right to the question? If you did, wasn't it easy?
Easy for you. Not so easy for others.