Rex Murphy: The bus approaches Bill Morneau

National Post

Finance Minister Bill Morneau. ADRIAN WYLD/THE CANADIAN PRESS

What’s news is the fact that Canada’s superstar banker has been asked to be a top personal adviser to Trudeau himself.

Somewhat disconcerting was the fact that Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who has at least earned accreditation from the press gallery as the “stable” in Trudeau’s cabinet, came out one day to alert eager Canadians that she has “completed trust” in his prime minister. It should be noted that usually, it is the prime minister who can issue declarations of confidence in the ministers he has appointed, unlike his subordinates, and that even includes a deputy prime minister, expressing your trust in him.

Despite this, let’s remember that this is Canada in the days of COVID-19, where you find a closed parliamentary store, a financially hungry auditor general, and public money spilling by the billions in all inexplicable directions. That being the case, it is good to ask, what is a small error in the protocol in terms of who comes to have complete trust in whom?

Facts of great relevance

Do not overlook some of the facts that could be said to be of great relevance, such as the fact that it was not only the prime minister and her family that were trapped in the worldwide WE network. Likewise, Finance Minister Bill Morneau had also been moving on one or more of his sticky strands.

Likewise, no finance minister, especially during this epic crisis, can bear to be the subject of doubts about his position with a prime minister. Then, in a flash, Trudeau, adopting the Freeland tactic, had his office issue a highly declarative statement: “Of course the prime minister has full confidence in minister Morneau and any statement to the contrary is false”. But Ottawa-ologists, a dedicated group of code readers and breakers, noted that it came from the PMO, not directly from the prime minister’s mouth, and in Ottawa, the nuance is all that substance is elsewhere.

Similarly, there is another very important factor to consider. That’s the very recent news that Canada’s superstar banker, fresh from England, has been asked to be a priority personal adviser to Trudeau himself. But for now, your requested one — the banker of Canada bankers, the finance guy — should at least indirectly put Morneau’s operation somewhat in the shadows.

Source: Rex Murphy | National Post

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