RIGHT DISHONOURABLE: Scandals that defined the Trudeau era

Here's a list of some of the more notable goofs, scandals and blunders that defined the Trudeau era

Published Jan 11, 2025  •  Last updated 0 minutes ago  •  10 minute read

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. Trudeau announced his resignation, saying he will leave office as soon as the ruling Liberal party chooses a new leader. Photo by DAVE CHAN / AFP /Getty Images

OTTAWA — It’s a list that’s as long as it is all-encompassing.

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s nearly decade-long time in office was defined by a regular stream of scandals, faux pas and controversies — many of which brought the PM to his knees but, against all odds, managed to maintain the confidence of his party.

While this list doesn’t cover everything, here’s a sampling of some of the biggest blunders, goofs and scandals committed by the PM and his government over the past 10 years.

CASH-FOR-ACCESS SCANDAL (2016)

In Dec. 2016, The Globe and Mail reported pricey Liberal Party cash-for-access events held at homes of wealthy Chinese-Canadians, charging attendees as much as $1,525 each in exchange for one-on-one time with the PM.

The scheme, according to media reports, would see the party collect between $50,000 and $120,000 in donations from each of these events, some featuring hosts and guests with uncomfortable ties to Beijing.

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Among the first measures implemented by the Trudeau Liberals upon coming to power were new “open and accountable” rules governing lobbying and political fundraising, but then-Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson absolved Trudeau of any wrongdoing — despite her office never opening a formal investigation into the matter.

Prime Minister Trudeau meets with the Aga Khan in his Centre Block office in Ottawa, May 17, 2016. Photo by PMO HANDOUT

AGA KHAN AFFAIR (2016)

Among the first defining scandals of Trudeau’s administration was the PM’s infamous eight-day 2016 Christmas vacation at the Aga Khan’s private island in The Bahamas.

While the PMO concealed the trip from public view, the story — broken by the National Post — was later confirmed, touching off an ethics investigation that saw Trudeau become the first PM in Canadian history found guilty of ethics breaches.

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The investigation also found the Trudeaus had previously visited Bells Cay twice before.

“Canadians have had a very rough time since 2015,” senior Conservative strategist Stephen Taylor told the Sun.

“Governments put onerous rules and financial constraints upon Canadians, and the Aga Khan vacation just showed Canadians that some of us aren’t bound by the rules.”

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ELBOWGATE (2016)

Trudeau’s attempt to manhandle the Conservative whip during a vote resulted in a female MP being elbowed in the chest, prompting a flurry of apologies from the PM.

During an attempt to delay a third-reading vote on an assisted dying bill on May 18, 2016, Trudeau grabbed Conservative Whip Gord Brown by the arm to lead him away from MPs gathered on the floor of the House of Commons.

While grabbing Brown’s arm, Trudeau drove his elbow into the chest of NDP MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau, seen on video doubling over in pain after the contact.

“What kind of man elbows a woman? It’s pathetic! You’re pathetic!” then-NDP leader Thomas Mulcair yelled at Trudeau. 

In a series of apologies after the incident, Trudeau said he took it upon himself to physically “assist” Brown to his seat.

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“I can now see was unadvisable as a course of actions that resulted in physical contact in this House that we can all accept was unacceptable,” Trudeau said. 

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INDIA TRIP (2018)

Among the more memorable blunders from the Trudeau era was the infamous 2018 state visit to India, which saw the PM — still riding high in popularity both at home and around the world — engage in some embarrassing behaviour.

Despite being invited by Indian PM Narendra Modi, Trudeau and his family were greeted at the airport by an agricultural minister.

Among invitees to a state dinner during Trudeau’s visit were Sikh extremist Jaspar Atwal — one of four people convicted in a 1986 plot to murder Indian cabinet minister Malkiat Singh Sidhu.

Seemingly unwilling to settle on locally-produced food, the government paid over $17,000 to fly Canadian celebrity chef Vikram Vij to India from Vancouver to prepare food for the PM and his entourage at a number of events.

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Trudeau’s choice of elaborate costumes during the trip also earned scorn from Indian media and pundits, which stood in contrast to his Indian counterparts who wore business suits.

“The ‘Mr. Dress-up goes to India’ trip really set the bar for Trudeau when it came to wasting money in a spectacular fashion and he tried hard to live up to that for his entire tenure,” said Kris Sims, Alberta Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

Justin Trudeau gets inducted into the Order of Sasquatch Hunters at the Columbia Brewery’s Kokanee Summit Festival in Creston, B.C., on Aug. 6, 2000. Postmedia file

KOKANEE GROPE (2018)

In June 2018, a screenshot of a two-decade old editorial published in a local B.C. newspaper accused Trudeau of “groping” and “inappropriately handling” a reporter sent to cover the August 2000 Kokanee Summit Festival on behalf of the National Post.

The event was a fundraiser commemorating Trudeau’s brother Michel, killed by a 1998 avalanche while skiing in Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park.

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The editorial included Trudeau’s apparent-apology, where he said that if he’d known she was reporting for a national paper, “I would never have been so forward.”

After weeks of silence, Trudeau later said he “… apologized in the moment because I had obviously perceived that she had experienced it in a different way than I acted or I experienced it.”

Former Canadian Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould arrives to give her testimony about the SNC-Lavalin affair before a justice committee hearing on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Feb. 27, 2019. Photo by LARS HAGBERG /AFP/Getty Images

SNC LAVALIN AFFAIR (2019)

Among the most notable Trudeau scandals began with a February 2019 Globe and Mail article alleging attempts to waylay prosecution in a corruption case involving Quebec-based construction giant SNC-Lavalin, now known as AtkinsRealis.

That article went to print shortly after former cabinet member Jody Wilson-Raybould was demoted from Justice Minister to Veteran’s Affairs after reportedly refusing requests to offer deferred prosecution to the company, sparing the firm a conviction that would ban it from bidding on government contracts for a decade.

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Wilson-Raybould’s resignation was followed by that of close aide Gerry Butts, and Treasury Board President Jane Philpott.

Trudeau later expelled Philpott and Wilson-Raybould from caucus.

She testified about months of pressure to greenlight the deal, including from Butts and former Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick.

The investigation found that Trudeau had indeed improperly pressured Wilson-Raybould, but saw no evidence of outright political interference.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie, are flanked by We Day co-founders Craig Kielburger, left, and his brother Marc, right, in front of a crowd of 16,000 people during the We Day event at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Nov. 10, 2015. Photo by Darren Brown /Ottawa Citizen

WE CHARITY SCANDAL (2020)

The Trudeau government’s April 2020 decision to enlist WE — an international children’s charity founded by brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger — to operate their $912 million Canada Student Service Grant program touched off a scandal that, once again, put the PM in the middle of yet another situation involving questionable ethics.

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The involvement of WE raised questions surrounding how close the Kielburgers were to Trudeau, who was a common sight at the charity’s WE Day events.

It was later revealed that Trudeau’s mother and brother were paid to speak at WE events between 2016 and 2020, as well as then-Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s daughters’ work history with the charity.

While Trudeau would later be cleared of wrongdoing by the ethics commissioner, Morneau was found to have broken the rules by not recusing himself from cabinet discussions concerning WE.

Morneau would later resign, but said it had to do with disputes over COVID-19 policy instead of WE.

Collection of images depicting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in blackface over the years.

BLACKFACE (2021)

A bombshell during the 2021 federal election saw Trudeau come face-to-face with allegations he’d darkened his skin to act as racist caricatures on numerous occasions.

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On Sept. 18, Time Magazine published images from the 2001 yearbook of Vancouver’s West Point Grey Academy — a private school where Trudeau once taught — depicting the future PM dressed as Aladdin sporting darkened skin and a white turban during a school function.

When pressed by reporters, Trudeau also admitted to singing Day-O in blackface during a 1990s talent show in high school.

A third video, also from the 1990s, featured Trudeau with his entire body painted black, waving his arms and sticking his tongue out.

When questioned how many times he’d appeared in blackface, Trudeau said he couldn’t recall.

Supporters of the Freedom Convoy protesting COVID vaccine mandates and restrictions in front on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. Photo by LARS HAGBERG / AFP /Getty Images

THE FREEDOM CONVOY (2022)

The Trudeau government’s handling of the Freedom Convoy, one of the largest protest mobilizations in Canadian history, came under intense criticism.

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With as many as 18,000 participants taking over Ottawa’s Wellington St. and surrounding avenues on Jan. 29, it quickly became clear that both law enforcement and government officials were taken completely by surprise.

Despite some concerning incidents, assaults and reports of harassment, the largely peaceful protest dwindled in size as time went on — but politicians across all levels of government seemed determined to end it once and for all.

The City of Ottawa declared a state of emergency on Feb. 6, one day before Ottawa City Councillor Diane Deans described the protests and border blockades as a “nationwide occupation” and that her city was “under siege.”

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Despite most border blockades being cleared and protesters in Ottawa dwindling, as well as major government operations largely being unaffected by the protest, Trudeau enacted the Emergencies Act on Valentines Day which gave banks the ability to monitor and freeze accounts of organizers and those suspected of donating to the cause.

Protest organizers Chris Barber and Tamara Lich were arrested on Feb. 17, with Pat King arrested one day later.

That was also the day police started forcibly removing vehicles and protesters from downtown Ottawa, including an incident where a 49-year-old women was knocked to the ground by a Toronto Police Service mounted officer on horseback.

A federal court decision determined the federal government’s invocation of the emergencies act was unconstitutional and unreasonable, despite the earlier Rouleau Commission previously concluding that it was justified.

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In his decision, Justice Richard Mosley wrote that while the convoy was indeed a disruption of public order, it didn’t constitute a national emergency and invoking the act “does not bear the hallmarks of reasonableness — justification, transparency and intelligibility.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau waves as he steps off a plane, THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

THE TRIPS

Aside from the infamous India trip, the Trudeau era is marked with numerous questionable uses of government money and aircraft for excursions both local and abroad — including 2015’s trip to COP21, where $800,000 was spent to send 283 delegates to the Paris summit.

The United States, in contrast, only sent 124 delegates.

“Nothing says saving the planet like posing for pictures as you dine on the taxpayer dime in France,” the CTF’s Kris Sims told the Sun.

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Another notable trip was the Trudeau family Sept. 2021 Tofino vacation, which saw the PM quietly depart on Canada’s first Truth and Reconciliation Day, despite invitations from numerous First Nations to attend local ceremonies.

Other notable excursions included who stayed in a $6,000-per-night hotel suite during the Queen’s 2022 funeral, where the government spent a little under half a million dollars just on hotel rooms.

The PM and his entourage racked up a $200,000 in-flight catering bill during a 2023 mission to Asia, while last June’s visit to the G7 and Ukraine summits included $800 spent on junk food prior to the flight.

While he wasn’t on the plane, Governor-General Mary Simon’s use of government travel has also come under scrutiny — including a four-day state visit to attend the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany that cost over $700,000, the infamous $100,000 airline catering bill racked up during a 2022 trip to the Middle East, and an infamous trip to Iceland that year — which resulted in a $71,000 limousine bill, despite most events happening withing easy walking distance of the vice-regal’s hotel.

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OTHER NOTABLE SCANDALS/FAUXS PAS:

• 2017: Trudeau makes his infamous “Welcome to Canada” tweet, which touched off a wave of illegal entries into Canada at illegal border crossings — most notoriously at Roxham Rd. on the Quebec/New York state border
• 2018: Arrest and subsequent detention of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at Vancouver airport on a U.S. extradition request, a move that would result in the summary arrest of Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig by the Chinese government. They would be released after 1,019 days in detention on Sept. 24, 2021, the same day Canada released Meng from custody
• 2017-2021: Appointment, and subsequent resignation, of Governor General Julie Payette
• 2019: Vice-Adm. Mark Norman affair
• 2020: Bill C-11, the controversial Online Streaming Act, is tabled in the House of Commons
• 2020: The infamous May 2020 order-in-council summarily banning thousands of semi-automatic firearms is introduced
• 2020: Questionable response to COVID-19 pandemic, including bungling disbursement of support money, vaccine mandates and questionable vaccine procurement
• 2020: ArriveCan scandal, where an $80,000 pandemic-era travel app ballooned into costing nearly $60M, and raised questions surrounding how government contracts get handed out
• 2021: Gen. Jonathan Vance affair
• 2021: Government tables bill C-21, its far-reaching and contentious gun control legislation
• 2021: Trudeau and cabinet abstaining from China Uighurs genocide vote
• 2021: A mansion belonging to property developer Wei Wei is raided by police as part of an underground gambling investigation in July 2020. Toronto Life Magazine later revealed that Wei had attended pricey Liberal party fundraisers and posed with photos with Trudeau, and was a member of a Chinese industry delegation that had connections to million-dollar donations to the Trudeau Foundation
• 2022: Media reports reveal the Trudeau Liberals had paid billions in consultancy fees during their time in office, including over $110 million to McKinsey & Company
• 2022: The Liberals and NDP sign their infamous supply and confidence agreement that would protect the minority Liberals from being toppled by non-confidence votes. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh publicly tore up the agreement last September, but kept supporting the government
• 2023: Media reports uncover the scale and scope of Chinese interference in Canadian affairs, including allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections and threats to Canadian politicians. The PMO was given reports from intelligence officials on the meddling as early as 2017, including warnings that candidates may be part of Chinese interference attempts, but allegedly ignored the warnings
• 2023: The federal government announces attempts to recoup the $112,000 anti-racism grant awarded to a group associated with activist Laith Marouf, who routinely posted antisemitic material on social media
• 2024: Global Affairs Canada purchases $9 million condo in Manhattan for consul general
• 2024: Randy Boissonnault implosion — including pandemic-era federal contracts granted to a company he co-owned, and changing stories on his supposed Indigenous background
• 2024: Sustainable Development Technology Canada program, better known as the “green slush fund” scandal

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