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All that would be bad enough, but this week’s disclosures were even worse. It came to light that Morneau declined to put all his assets in a blind trust, or to fully divest himself of them, upon becoming finance minister in 2015, while leading others to believe that he had. Morneau, the former chairman of Morneau Sheppell, a large human resources and accounting company founded by his father, kept a million shares in two private corporations that he directly controlled after he was elected, even as he developed policy (such as on pensions) that will impact the firm. And as the Toronto Sun reported Friday, Morneau Shepell also has a contract with the Bank of Canada, an institution that comes under the purview of the finance minister, which the bank renewed in 2017.

The disclosures this week made matters even worse

To be fair, the federal ethics commissioner, Mary Dawson, had confirmed to Morneau in 2016 that a blind trust was not required, because Morneau’s assets were not “controlled” within the meaning of the Conflict of Interest Act (although Dawson had also recommended that this loophole be closed more than four years ago.) So Morneau’s conduct was technically legal. But there can be no question his conduct fell short of adhering to the spirit of the law, which aims to prevent public office holders from using their positions to advance their private interests, or to even appear to do so.

To call this disappointing is an understatement. Morneau, a well-respected business leader recruited as a star Liberal candidate for the 2015 election, was expected to be a major figure in the Trudeau government. It’s true that Morneau was a political rookie, but he’s also an accomplished, intelligent man. Now, he has not only botched the rollout of a major tax reform plan, but has also revealed a staggering degree of hypocrisy and naïveté. He has belatedly taken steps to address these issues by promising to sell his Morneau Shepell shares, but has still seemed frustrated with the scrutiny he’s come under.