Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's recent family vacation in the Bahamas has come under scrutiny and the nation's ethics watchdog has launched an investigation into the trip. This is the first time a sitting prime minister in Canada has faced this kind of scrutiny.
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In a letter to a Conservation lawmaker, Canada's ethics commissioner Mary Dawson said that she was investigating Trudeau's recent New Year's trip to a private island in Bahamas, owned by the famed spiritual leader Aga Khan. Khan is the leader of the world's 15 million Ismaili Muslims, a branch of Shiite Islam.
The investigators are now probing whether Trudeau's family vacation to the island violated any rules prohibiting a minister from accepting bribes or "gifts" that could influence government decisions. Dawson said that she was investigating if Trudeau breached the Conflict of Interest Act with his trip.
The vacation included Trudeau, his family and two Liberal lawmakers Seamus O'Regan and Liberal party president Anna Gainey, all of whom took part in the chopper flight from Nassau to get to the secluded island. All of them used a private helicopter belonging to Aga Khan. Investigators are probing whether that violated the prime minister's own guidelines.
The Canadian Prime Minister, in 2015, had formulated the rules stating that government ministers in the country could not take private flights without the approval of the ethics commission.
Trudeau, reportedly, has called Aga Khan a longtime family friend. Khan was a pallbearer at his father's funeral. Late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and Aga Khan were reportedly good friends.
Trudeau has said that he is ready to meet with Dawson about the investigations of his trip.
"As the prime minister said last week, we are happy to engage with the commissioner and answer any questions she may have," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement, the Associated Pres reported.
