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Justin Trudeau appears more confident about everything than most of us are about anything, particularly when it comes to the righteousness of his party’s fund-raising activities.

The messianic sense that the Liberals are on a crusade to create a Just Society has stood the Prime Minister in good stead. In his year-end press conference, he recapped the busiest session since his party won power – a free trade agreement with the European Union; a free-spending fall fiscal update; the introduction of carbon pricing; the approval of two pipelines.

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But the conviction that you’re always right, and that any criticism is a trivial distraction, inevitably leads to the arrogance that has proven to be a political immunodeficiency disorder for the Liberal Party for decades.

During the press conference, he was asked if he had ever been approached about government policy at Liberal fundraisers.

He admitted he is lobbied at private cash-for-access events, but said that donors have no more influence or special access than other Canadians.