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BY ANDREW SCHEER

Canada is facing a moral and ethical crisis of leadership.

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Canadians do not expect their prime ministers to be perfect, but they do expect them to be honest.

They expect their prime ministers to be fair. To be in command of their office. To be accountable for their actions. To know right from wrong. To recognize corrupt special interests and to summon both the courage to stand up to them and the strength to shut them down.

What Canadians have seen from Justin Trudeau over the last month — since the SNC-Lavalin corruption scandal broke and consumed his entire government — is a prime minister who possesses none of these abilities.

The accusations against him are severe.

He stands accused of the kind of corruption more common in third-world dictatorships than in countries like Canada where the rule of law is supposed to be supreme.

He has used the power of his office to subvert the law and secure special treatment for a well-connected company.