…would a government that has had several ethical challenges, led by a Prime Minister who has twice been found to have violated Parliament’s ethics rules, appoint as Ethics Commissioner the sister-in-law of a cabinet minister who himself has been cited for ethics violations.
If I was a fiction writer, I would reject that idea as just too improbable.
Is the Prime Minister so blind it can’t see the issue? Or do they have such contempt for the voters that they just don’t care anymore?
Or do I just not understand?
Somebody please tell me.
random thoughts from lorne 
All of the a move???Sent from Android device
It’s a curious argument you’re making, Lorne. If your son- or daughter-in-law was found guilty of a criminal or ethical offence, would you argue we should not trust you in your role as a minister or political advisor? I would argue that what someone else did, not even genetically related to you, should have no bearing on your trustworthiness or competence. Nor would it even if you were a Liberal (gasp!?) or NDP. The article makes plain this woman is a logical choice. So, what’s the problem?
It’s the optics. I’m not arguing against her qualifications nor questioning her integrity.
She has already had to recuse herself twice from cases her office handles. Given the track record of this government it would not be surprising if she has to do so again.
I would not hire a relative for such a sensitive position. Or probably not for any position if I was in politics.
It is the blindness of the government, not seeing the potential for political blowback, that astounds me. In the climate of the times they should be more careful.
This has been part of a pattern. Justice Rouleau, who investigated the invocation of the Emergencies Act was at one point an assistant to a Liberal Prime Minister. Does that alter his viewpoint? I believe his integrity and accepted his judgement, even though I felt he erred in his interpretation of the Act.
In the same way I saw David Johnston as a reasonable choice to investigate foreign election election interference even though the media described him as a family friend of Justin Trudeau’s. After all, the last time Trudeau described someone as a family friend it was the Aga Khan – who the ethics commissioner stated had no relationship with the Prime Minister except as a recipient of government money. But apparently he really is a friend. if he decides as the Prime Minister wishes, people will always wonder.
Are there no people to fill government jobs who aren’t connected to the government so closely?