How did Canada's Justin Trudeau go from 'sunny ways' to political scandal?

[TexasTowelie]

Four years ago, Justin Trudeau rose to Canada’s highest office as the second-youngest prime minister in the country’s history, promising “sunny ways” and a new era of honest government, equal representation and liberalism.

Now, Trudeau is entangled in a scandal involving allegations that his office pressured his justice minister to settle a criminal case against a major corporation accused of corrupt practices on three continents — including paying millions in bribes to Libyan officials during the regime of Moammar Gadhafi.

As of Monday, two members of Trudeau’s Cabinet have resigned, as has his top political adviser. The ethics commissioner for Canada’s Parliament has opened an investigation, and several opposition party members have called for the police or an independent inquiry to take on the case.

In seven months, Trudeau faces an election. How did he get here, and what’s going on?

Read more: https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/world/2019/03/05/how-did-canada-justin-trudeau-from-sunny-ways-political-scandal/63vhMrMX6ko38WLwQNA7sL/story.html

[canuckledragger]

1. Unrelenting conservative lies...

...fear and hate mongering ever since he was elected to office.

That, combined with all the various conservative front groups like 'Ontario Proud' and the hate-spewing yellow vests may have something to do about it.

Cons here have no successes to speak of, but failure after failure and they want to take attention away from those failures by doing what they always do...try to smear someone else.

[Fix The Stupid]

2. So you're cool with the SNC lavalin thing? Really? n/t

[applegrove]

3. I think we need to have a discussion about the world being divided

up into places that have corruption and places that don't. And decide as a nation which countries we are going to do business with. And live the rest of our lives that way. Would go a long way in Quebec for them to understand SNC Lavelin and the sanctions it will face. I've just read "Beyond the Beautiful Forevers" by Katherine Boo. Just stunning true book on the effect of corruption on a Mumbi slum. True story.I hated corruption before. I think it is the number one problem in the world now. And the corrupt government now have leverage on us western nations (western nations used to leverage financial norms and human rights against poorer nations when we traded with them - after colonialism and the cold war - now the poorer country are leveraging corruption against our corporations trying to do trade). We need a policy everyone can get behind in canada. It would not change what SNC Lavelin would face but at least Canadians would be on the same page if we educated ourselves and had a discussion about it.Right now Canadians are not on the same page.

[Saviolo]

4. What a disappointment.

I had medium hopes for Trudeau to at least be a more or less status quo sort of Liberal PM. Not enough to vote for him, mind you, I voted NDP. When he reneged on the electoral reform, I called my MP at her office in Ottawa and here in Toronto. Even so, he seemed to be doing otherwise fine. A mixed bag. I was against Keystone XL, so that was another disappointment, but he handled himself decently well against Trump, and still managed a charming presence on the world stage. Those photos of him with Obama and Nieto at the summit in Ottawa are an amazing example of leaders with a common goal having a good time together while working on important issues (I mean, can you imagine Trump doing anything as goofy and enjoyable as this



But it seems his inexperience is catching up, and it's not clear where this is all going. I'd love to believe that Canada is not willing to elect an openly white supremacist like Sheer, but Toronto elected Rob Ford, Ontario elected Doug Ford, Alberta elected Ralph Klein for years...

The right wing attack machine has had Jagmeet in their sights for ages no, because they knew he was a softer and easier target than Trudeau, and it would be an important foundation to lay before the next election to make him and the NDP less viable. A cynical and underhanded ploy. Still, I feel like if the left in Canada can coalesce around Jagmeet and the NDP, Scheer might suffer too much from attacks from the right from Bernier (who I pray no one will take seriously).

Ugh. What a clusterfuck.