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OTTAWA — Justin Trudeau made history in December 2017 when he became the first sitting prime minister to break federal ethics laws, after it was determined that he wrongly accepted an all-expenses paid trip to the Aga Khan’s private island a year earlier for a family vacation.

On Wednesday, Trudeau further deepened that achievement, after the ethics commissioner found the prime minister had again violated conflict of interest laws — this time for attempts made by his office to sway the attorney general toward intervening in the prosecution of engineering giant SNC-Lavalin.

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His title of being the first-ever leader to breach these laws is somewhat thin: Canada’s Conflict of Interest Act only came into effect in 2006, and so has only applied to two prime ministers.

But even so, critics say the latest ruling highlights what they categorize as a deep-lying instinct by the Liberal government to cozy up to wealthy supporters while publicly voicing their deep affection for the modest middle class.