The scandal surrounding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party’s cash-for-access fundraisers continues to develop. Last week, it was reported that Justin Trudeau invited five dozen Liberal Party donors to an official dinner in honour of the People’s Republic of China’s Premier Li Keqiang in September. The official dinner gave donors exclusive access to the Prime Minister, senior cabinet ministers, and top officials from the Chinese government. Despite Justin Trudeau’s attempt to portray these cash-for-access fundraisers as a means to “champion the middle class” and as a “non-story” made up by the media, he is in very deep trouble. For the first time in a decade, Parliament’s independent ethical watchdog will ask a sitting prime minister to defend his integrity. Will the ethics commissioner conclude that Justin Trudeau breached the Conflict of Interest Act?
Last week, there were a number of developments relating to the national security of Canadians. During the trial of Ismael Habib, who is charged with attempting to leave Canada to join ISIS, it was reported that the RCMP’s terror investigation on young Quebec men who travelled to Syria is still ongoing. However, both the RCMP and the Crown have given very few details about the ongoing operation. Furthermore, in B.C., Khalid Ahmed Ibrahim was arrested on a terrorism peace bond under the suspicion that he might commit an act of terrorism. Lastly, in Windsor, Mohammad El Shaer was given a terrorism peace bond with 17 conditions.
Since Canada’s anti-terrorism bill passed last year, police have sought 19 terrorism peace bonds. Perhaps the most known case is the Aaron Driver incident, in which Driver was killed by police as he was leaving his home in Strathroy, ON to conduct a suicide bombing for ISIS. At the time, Driver was living under a peace bond. Because of this incident, we have to question the effectiveness of a terrorism peace bond. Yes, the conditions under a peace bond are severe but do they actually prevent terrorist activities in Canada? Is incarnation a more suitable solution?
