Taking The Measure of The Man

"I have decided to reach out to all the organizations that hired me as a professional speaker while I was a member of Parliament to engage with them to find a satisfactory solution. I am open to exploring all options with them to ensure that they are satisfied with the outcome.
"They hired me to help make their event a success. I'm going to work with them and deal with them straight.
"Canadians expect more from me and I am glad to use what I can, to do what I can to deal with this organization straight and fix this."
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau

This is perfectly true; Canadians do expect more from Justin Trudeau. And it would have been far more useful for Mr. Trudeau to have understood how inappropriate it was for him to charge for speaking engagements as a Member of Parliament; all the more so in addressing charities and not-for-profit organizations. He was not at all a straight-dealer in charging tens of thousands as an MP, to speak at various events. He was puzzlingly maladroit in refusing to refund a speaking fee to a charity that had lost money on an event he had addressed.

Not only is there concrete evidence of a failing of character, of an obvious disability to identify the graspingly tawdry from the fit and true, but evidence as well that when Justin Trudeau is approached with an appeal to his better nature, that 'better nature' chose to shield itself and deny it was there at all, and perhaps in fact it is totally absent. A better nature that would aid him in making his free choices, steering him toward doing the right thing initially, avoiding entirely the need to succumb to the pressure of condemnation.

Justin Trudeau is an elected Member of the Canadian Parliament. This is now what he does, representing at one level the interests of those who elected him in his Montreal riding, and now as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, aspiring to become prime minister, promising to look to the interests of the country at large and all who are residents and citizens of that country. He is well remunerated in his role as an MP and as a party leader.

If MPs and party leaders are invited to speak at conventions or fund raisers whatever the case may be they are already paid to present themselves, through the public purse. It is beyond unseemly for someone in that position to use his position, and to agree to address any group as a professional speaker, earning a hefty gratuity in the process, of tens of thousands of dollars.

Justin Trudeau emphasizes his role in the good of the public weal, speaks to further education, the middle class, the well-being of the elderly and of youth, yet when he accepts speaking engagements to address charitable groups he demands to be paid a sum commensurate with what he obviously feels is his value to the cause. Most people instinctively prepare themselves to support charitable enterprises by their personal donations. They do not seek to enhance their own monetary prospects from charities.

Justin Trudeau feels entitled to present himself as a Member of Parliament whose ethical obligation it logically is under those circumstances to represent his status as an MP free of charge, yet he sees nothing amiss in extracting a rich speaking fee from charities. One such charity, the Grace Foundation in New Brunswick lost money once Justin Trudeau was paid his $20,000 fee to speak at a fundraising event last year.

The premier of Saskatchewan, Brad Wall, became involved publicly, decrying Justin Trudeau's errant sense of entitlement, demanding that he repay the $20,000 fee he had charged for speaking at a Saskatoon literacy conference last year.  Mr. Trudeau made over a million dollars as a popular speaker on a cross-country speaking circuit. When he was elected to the House of Commons in 2008 he continued his public speaking, and the earnings netted from them, until 2012.

This man who inherited what most people would feel is a fortune, of over a million dollars, doubled that with his speaking engagements; he is not short of a financial cushion, and his MP's salary, and now the additional party leader salary ensure he and his progeny will not seek social welfare any time soon. On the other hand, he is benefiting from a different type of social welfare, and it is a situation that ill becomes a leadership aspirant.

Of the groups for which he was swift to accept speaking engagements, charitable and non-profit organizations including universities, school boards, hospital and health care groups were all well represented. He personally saw nothing amiss by farming himself out helpfully as a speaker and fund-raiser draw for various groups, picking up those generously rich speaking fees to further pad his bank accounts.

When a charity for the elderly found itself in a position where the event it held lost money, it approached Justin Trudeau to ask that he consider refunding the $20,000 speaker fee and returning it to them. His response was no response; he chose to retain that speaking fee. But that was all before the issue became public knowledge and it was brought up in the House of Commons.

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall stated his gratification that Mr. Trudeau has relented and decided to return the speaking fees he garnered addressing non-profit and charitable groups: "As I stated on Friday, elected officials are already paid to speak on important public matters by the taxpayers. I commend Mr. Trudeau for his reflection on this matter and for doing the right thing."

There are others reflecting on the issue as well. A spokeswoman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a statement that was edifyingly succinct in the manner in which most people would view the practise and the circumstances relating to Mr. Trudeau's speakers' circuit engagements: "Most parliamentarians raise money for charity, not from charities."