In 2020, then-Prime Minister Trudeau approved a $43.5 million grant to We Charity, the organization that had paid his family $481,751 in speaking fees, gifts and trips.

Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion later cleared Trudeau of any ethical violations, insisting an “appearance of a conflict” was not enough under the Act, and that the conflict had to be “real.”

Duff Conacher of Democracy Watch, who has been advocating for greater government accountability and pursuing this challenge, called the previous ruling a “horrible precedent.”

“If this is allowed, what is not allowed?” he asked at the time.

Ultimately, the Supreme Court agreed Canadians have a right to challenge unlawful government action and thus, a fresh hearing is in order.

For years Ottawa shielded its own, and got away with it but now, the highest court has reminded them that no one, not even a former prime minister’s ethics referee, sits above the law.

While the decision to re-open the case does not automatically determine whether Trudeau violated the Conflict of Interest Act in the WE Charity affair, it does remove the legal shield that had insulated the Ethics Commissioner's decisions from judicial scrutiny.

This renewed examination comes against the backdrop of a prime minister whose tenure was repeatedly marked by ethics controversies.

Trudeau was twice found to have violated federal conflict-of-interest rules — first over his vacation on the Aga Khan's private island and later in the SNC-Lavalin affair. The now re-opened scrutiny over the WE Charity controversy falls alongside other scandals that fuelled persistent questions about Trudeau’s judgment.

Repeatedly, the Liberal government has too often treated ethics rules as obstacles to navigate rather than standards to uphold.

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