I would just like to come back briefly to some of the broader questions raised by the commissioner's report, specifically in the area of the Prime Minister's testimony to Commissioner Dawson regarding the bilateral meeting on May 17, 2016:
Mr. Trudeau testified that, despite his relationship with the Aga Khan, he did not have any concerns about attending the May 17, 2016 bilateral meeting with him.
The commissioner wrote, quoting the Prime Minister's testimony in the meeting with the commissioner:
The meetings he attends as Prime Minister are not business meetings. Rather, they are high-level meetings centred on relationship building and ensuring that all parties are moving forward together. Specific issues or details are worked out before, subsequently or independently of any meeting he attends.
I think this raises questions far beyond the meetings with the Aga Khan. It raises questions about any meetings he may have in the future, in the almost two years remaining in his term, with those seeking favours or funding from the federal government. The fact that he didn't find that he was attending a meeting improperly on official business, because he was just there to relationship-build, the commissioner found was in violation of section 21. It was one of the four violations she found.
I think it's important for this committee, for the House of Commons, for the government, and for Canadians to know how this Prime Minister sees his role as Prime Minister in important meetings and with regard to the obligations every member of Parliament and every public office-holder has under the Conflict of Interest Act and the code.