Article content continued

In his letter to Goodale, Trudeau-the-younger asks the minister to use his discretion under immigration law to allow Harkat to stay. “I am absolutely convinced that at this moment, he poses no danger whatsoever to the public or to public safety in Canada,” the letter says.

Alexandre Trudeau may very well be right about Harkat. He has worked on Harkat’s case for years, long before his brother became an MP, let alone prime minister. He’s no Sacha-come-lately to the human rights business. Indeed he’s among several famous Canadians, such as former UN ambassador Stephen Lewis, trying to stop Harkat’s deportation.

But the issue isn’t his arguments or his intent; it’s his intervention. It’s his relationship to the boss.

Justin Trudeau has shrugged off any suggestion of impropriety, saying his brother has the same free-speech rights as other Canadians. “We have a rigorous process on the government side, and we will be following that process with the kind of rigour and seriousness that Canadians expect us to,” the prime minister said on Wednesday. The federal ethics commissioner also sees no reason for alarm.

But the tale of Caesar’s wife endures for a reason. In Plutarch’s telling, Caesar divorced Pompeia not because she had acted indiscreetly, but because she “ought not even be under suspicion.” Those close to a powerful politician must not only be “pure,” but be perceived as such. That’s why questions are asked ­– rightly –­ about even minor matters, such as whose brooches or dresses the prime minister’s wife wears.