Article content continued

LeBlanc once worried that his Bacchanalian inclinations would disbar him from high office, but when thorny problems have arisen in this government he has been Justin Trudeau’s go-to guy — providing valuable parliamentary experience for the fledgling government as House leader; a steady hand as fisheries minister, after the previous incumbent resigned in disgrace; and a cheery disposition to disarm hostile provincial premiers as intergovernmental affairs minister.

LeBlanc of all people should have known that accepting a free flight from the Irvings would blow up

All this is by way of preamble. LeBlanc is a welcome addition to Canadian national life. The news that he was being treated for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma was greeted with dismay on all sides of the House; the update that he had successfully undergone three treatments and intended to run in the fall election was received with relief.

Yet the revelation that he benefited from the use of a private aircraft operated by New Brunswick’s Irving family is not excused by his illness.

LeBlanc’s filing with the ethics commissioner revealed he accepted a return flight from Moncton to Montreal for a “medical consultation” last month. His office said his immune system was compromised, so his doctors said he could not travel on a commercial flight.

It is, to be fair, a long drive — about 10 hours each way. But that would have been the only option open to most Canadians.

LeBlanc of all people should have known that accepting a free flight from the Irvings would blow up. After all, it did once before. He hit the headlines in 2003 for using the private Irving jet for political business and pleasure. He was parliamentary secretary to the defence minister at the time, but it later emerged that five Chrétien-era ministers had also taken complimentary trips to the Irving fishing lodge in New Brunswick. The resulting furor nearly claimed the head of industry minister Allan Rock, who went on such a trip while health minister in 2001. In his subsequent portfolio, the opposition parties accused him of presenting an aid package to cabinet that would have helped struggling Canadian shipbuilders, including the Irvings. Rock denied any conflict, but under opposition pressure in 2003 he apologized in the House for taking the trip.