Mary Dawson said she never considered calling the RCMP to investigate Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for fraud when the then-federal ethics commissioner ruled he had violated the conflict of interest rules by making a full-fledged trip to Aga Khan’s private home. island in the Bahamas in 2016. In an interview Thursday, Ms Dawson said the RCMP had never contacted her to discuss her findings in 2017 and had no idea they had launched an investigation into Mr Trudeau for possible fraud. “There was never any connection with the criminal authorities when I did this investigation,” he said. He would not say whether he believed the Mounties should reopen their 2019 investigation into the prime minister’s controversial family vacation, as the Conservatives demanded. “They have to figure it out for themselves,” said Ms. Dawson, whose term as Ethics Commissioner ended in January 2018. Conservatives call on RCMP to continue criminal investigation into Aga Khan’s Trinto’s trip in 2016 Ms Dawson also said that when she issued her death sentence for the Trudeau family, she was unaware of a provision in the Penal Code that could lead to allegations of fraud against the Prime Minister. “Nothing warned me at the time that there would be a possible criminal charge,” he said. “I did not know of a specific provision in the criminal law that would apply to this.” Asked why she did not consider sending her report to RCMP, she said: “I did not think so. It did not cross my mind. “And no one approached me.” Ms. Dawson’s report, which formed the basis of the RCMP’s investigation into 2019, was released on December 20, 2017, and found that the Prime Minister had violated four sections of the Conflict of Interest Act. He criticized Mr Trinto for taking a free holiday at the Aga Khan resort when the Ismaili Muslim leader traded millions of dollars with the Canadian government. RCMP documents show that the force believed there were good reasons to accuse Mr Trinto of fraud because he had been granted free leave by someone who trades with the government. However, in documents released to the Conservatives under the Access to Information Act, the Mounties said that “it is not clear whether Mr Trudeau can be prosecuted under Article 121 (1) (c) of the Penal Code, as the department has a provision allowing officials to accept benefits from persons engaged in government transactions, provided that the official has the written consent of the head of the government branch ‘. Because Mr. Trinto is the head of government, the RCMP said it was unclear whether he had the power to give himself permission to accept the gift. “I was not particularly aware of this provision and it was not brought to my attention in any way,” Ms Dawson said on Thursday. During a question-and-answer session on Tuesday, Mr Trinto said he had not given himself permission to take a luxury holiday in the Bahamas. On Wednesday, the Conservatives wrote to RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki to formally ask her to launch a criminal investigation into the prime minister. The RCMP said on Thursday it supported a statement issued last week that it was satisfied with its decision not to prosecute Mr Trinto. On April 22, the RCMP said it had conducted a “thorough and impartial analysis” and that its findings had been validated by two separate third parties, including the Political Review and Complaints Committee for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. In Thursday’s polls, the Conservatives continued to push for the issue, saying there seemed to be one law for the prime minister and another law for Canadians. “He was given a luxury vacation on a private island worth $ 215,000 by someone who is actively pushing the government for millions of taxpayers’ money,” said Conservative ethics critic James Bezan. “He admitted that he was not allowed to travel. “The RCMP has all the pieces of the puzzle now needed to accuse the prime minister of committing fraud against the government.” The Conservatives urged the Prime Minister to speak cautiously to the RCMP. Undersecretary of State Chrystia Freeland avoided those questions, saying that Ms Dawson had already researched the matter in depth and urged the Conservatives to move on to more pressing issues, such as climate change. For subscribers only: Receive exclusive political news and analysis by subscribing to Political information.
