Justin Trudeau's Downfall

Should World Leaders be Accountable to Ethical Standards of Conduct?

Justin Trudeau acted improperly and it could be his downfall.

The Canadian elections are on Monday, and our trust in politicians has never been lower. The lack of accountability can be seen everywhere from climate change policy to false promises.

This article is not a political piece, but a call for better ethics, governance, regulation and accountability in an era where human leadership is failing the future of humanity.

I believe heading into the 2020 Presidential elections and hearing the democratic candidates debate, we need to highlight better ethical codes of conduct for world leaders.

Never before has the world been confronted with the ethical challenges we see on the planet today. From trade wars to global warming, trust in politicians is unfortunately very low.

Heads of State Need to Be Held Accountable for Corruption

From Corporate Governance to how democracy is moderated, it’s clear we lack adequate checks and balances in our system. Recently I’ve noticed the Canadian Prime Minister has come under fire due to SNC-Lavalin corruption scandals.

The ethical violations of Justin Trudeau are somewhat serious in a place like Canada which is not usually considered among the more corrupt countries in politics and lobbying. Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion recently said Trudeau inappropriately tried to influence Jody Wilson-Raybould.

When major companies and their lawyers are awarded “compliance” from major world leaders and their governments to protect them from crimes they have committed or are committing, we should all be outraged. This isn’t just a failure of ethics, it’s a massive failure of leadership and public accountability.

So I’m not in the habit of reading Canada’s National Post, Global News or CBC, but today I am. Because as a citizen and a futurist this is an ethical letdown by one of the more charismatic global leaders, and where I live in Canada.

Democracy Needs More Ethical Guidelines and Accountability of Conduct

When a company accused of corruption uses its power to influence a head of state who abuses his authority, it’s very serious for democracy. Dion concluded that Trudeau used his authority to “circumvent, undermine and ultimately discredit” the decision of the Director of Public Prosecutions not to offer a remediation agreement to SNC-Lavalin, which would have allowed the Montreal engineering giant to avoid criminal prosecution.

This is not the country I know, and love!

In my many conversations and research into the issue, I’ll tell you straight up: many Canadians are surprised to learn that despite the contravention, there will be no punishment. Oddly in Canada, that’s because Canada’s “Conflict of Interest Act does not provide for any sanctions for breaches found following an examination by the conflict of interest and ethics commissioner.” How crazy is that?

We live in a democracy where social media matters more than ethics in leadership. That’s not a healthy impact of technology on society or civic life. Donald Trump has pushed the boundaries of what we thought Twitter would be used for in 2019 and in his term of office.

Justin Trudeau, in spite of his obvious goodwill, has failed Canadians in representing our best interests with integrity. I’m not even a political person, I don’t usually follow political discourse. However in the face of an ethical breach of conduct and corporate corruption I take notice. This is because I feel social justice is important, especially since this shows how female members of the office are being pushed around.

If you call yourself a feminist, Justin Trudeau, you really have to walk the talk. It seems like his connections to SNC-Lavalin, whatever they may be, have in this case taken precedence. It changes how I see the ethics of Canadian leadership, to be honest. It’s like a punch in the gut.

A Blow for Women in Politics Due to Ethical Foul Play

Today I woke up to a world where our own Prime Minister contravened Section 9 of the Conflict of Interest Act through a series of ‘flagrant attempts to influence’ then Justice Minister Jody Wilson‑Raybould to reach an agreement with SNC-Lavalin to avoid criminal prosecution.

Would things have been different if Jody has been a man? This is the sort of thing that nobody talks about.

Mrs. Wilson-Raybould is clearly a person of high integrity who would sooner quit than be privy to and part of such dealings.

That section of the code prohibits any official responsible for high-level decision making in government from seeking to influence the decision of another person to “improperly further another person’s private interests.”

The State is Made Up of Humans

If global leaders put corporate/private interests ahead of integrity, ethics and good judgment, how do we expect democracy to function for the greater good of the people like it is supposed to? I live in Quebec, which is well known for corruption in the construction industry. But I did not expect that even Justin Trudeau was part of that. A mayor I can handle, but a leader of an entire country? That’s going too far.

That Justin Trudeau first denied and never apologized and then said he did it to protect jobs is even more outrageous. This kind of entitled and arrogant behavior is just the sort of thing that the Trudeau line is known for, and it’s petty. I can’t help but feel angered by the narrative that just never seems to go away.

And furthermore, what is the point of caring about ethics in leadership, if there is no penalty for breaches and breaking the rules? That doesn’t sound like a system that cares much about government accountability and social justice.

Justin Trudeau Should Step Down from Office

If he was a better man, he’d literally step down from the position of Prime Minister. But if he’s in the pocket of powerful companies, why would he? He would instead remain defiant like we are seeing.

I’m disappointed to live in a country that doesn’t uphold ethical conduct in leadership when it comes to how powerful businesses interact with legal and political issues. It’s totally inappropriate that the lawyers and executives of SNC-Lavalin would be working to undermine the truth with the Liberal Party of Canada complicit in their scheming!

SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. should face significant fines and official probes due to these findings. There are human errors and corruption here on many levels. Ethics have to matter in the highest offices of leadership or else we are doing the public a great disservice. Nobody should be protecting companies that break the rules. Prime Ministers and Presidents need to be monitored for corruption at every point, or else these situations will just keep occurring.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and officials in his government improperly tried to influence a corporate legal case and it’s sort of a big deal. Hopefully, Conservatives will beat the Liberals in the next Canadian election due to this incident. This is a flagrant abuse of power on the part of Justin Trudeau.

The Ethics Watchdog found in his scathing report that Justin Trudeau should face trial on corruption charges. If this doesn’t occur, we’ll know just how weak morally Canadian politics and its legal system really are. Mario Dion is the independent Ethics Commissioner and this is a major recent finding that has become international news in mid-August, 2019.

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