Show caption Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau. Photograph: Chris Wattie/Reuters Canada Justin Trudeau’s holiday on Aga Khan’s island comes under investigation Canadian prime minister’s family break in the Bahamas is being scrutinised by the ethics commissioner Associated Press in Ottawa Mon 16 Jan 2017 13.14 EST Share on Facebook

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Canada’s ethics commissioner is launching an investigation into the recent family holiday taken by the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, at the Aga Khan’s private island in the Bahamas.



Mary Dawson said on Monday that Trudeau may have violated the federal ethics code during his holiday with the Aga Khan, the philanthropist and hereditary spiritual leader to the world’s Ismaili Muslims who Trudeau says is a family friend. It is the first time the ethics commissioner has opted to investigate the actions of a sitting prime minister.

In a letter to opposition Conservative politician Blaine Calkins, who was among those who filed formal complaints, Dawson said she was looking into Trudeau’s stay at the island and his use of the Aga Khan’s private helicopter to get there.

Trudeau, his family, Liberal politician Seamus O’Regan and Liberal party president Anna Gainey all took a helicopter flight from Nassau to the secluded island.

The Conflict of Interest Act and Trudeau’s own ethics guidelines both bar the use of sponsored travel in private aircraft, allowing it only for exceptional circumstances. The guidelines also prohibit a minister or any member of their family from accepting gifts or “advantages” that could reasonably be seen as influencing government decisions. The only exception is if the person providing the gift is a friend.

Trudeau has repeatedly called the Aga Khan a longtime family friend. He was a pallbearer at the funeral of his father, the late prime minister Pierre Trudeau.