We’ve been hearing a lot lately about Prime Minister Trudeau in relation to conflict of interest.
We all know he and his family took a holiday in the Caribbean with most of the expenses covered by his host. Although the Aga Khan is viewed as a family friend of the Trudeaus, he also does business with the Canadian government. And so, politics 101 — Trudeau should not have accepted the trip as a gift. Former Canadian Ethics Commissioner, Mary Dawson, in a recent ruling stated just this point.
Regardless of accepting a no-cost holiday from one who was once a family friend, Trudeau is the P.M. and has to be careful about what he accepts and doesn’t. In this instance, Dawson declared Trudeau as being in a conflict of interest.
It’s true that no asking of future favours will likely occur as a result of this trip. But it could. And it’s important that our leaders don’t take offered largesse because they could be put in difficult situations later. “Well, you were wined and dined by us, so why won’t you vote for our project in the Canadian hinterland?”
I know only too well what can happen to a person in a position of power accepting gifts. One summer I had a job as a guard at a provincial prison. My training included information about accepting gifts. We were told that inmates would find a way to “use” us if we ever took a gift.
One evening I was assigned to a prison area where the inmates had quite a bit of freedom, and one fellow spent time talking to me about books. As I have always been a bibliophile, I expressed an interest in a particular Henry Miller novel he mentioned, so he went to his cell and brought it back to me. I never thought anything about my decision to take it away to read.
The next night long after “lights out,” my bookworm inmate wandered here and there in that cell-block, simply waving at me out by the locked gates. An hour or so later, he left his cell and entered another cell. I managed to locate him and ordered him back to his own space. However, before going off duty, I wrote a report on his behaviour.
When I turned up for duty the next day, I was called into the Warden’s office. Didn’t I know that taking the book would jeopardize my work situation? Hadn’t I understood that 99 per cent of inmates would turn on a guard if it meant protecting themselves? Taking that book was clearly considered a conflict of interest. Fortunately, I got off with a reprimand.
When I became a Castlegar City councillor, I already knew the acceptance of gifts was not allowed. If I accepted something as innocuous as a box of chocolates and then was asked by the same taxpayer to vote favourably for a variance, I’d clearly have a problem. If I had a personal connection to an issue being discussed, it was important that I declare a conflict of interest and leave the Council Chambers.
The Mayor and councillors are always aware of the potential problems that might arise if a conflict of interest is not declared. There’s nothing worse than Council business being called into question or jettisoned because someone is too closely aligned with an issue.
The problem with “conflict of interest” rules is that there is no direct penalty if a person breaks the rule. It’s a self-policing and group policing process.
True, there is ostracism and community anger, but what the public is left with is usually an apology and a vow never to do it again.
