The Liberal Government of Canada under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: An Assessment of the Liberal Record on Accountability, Transparency and Ethics

By Catherine Waters, Karl Salgo and Rhonda Moore

April 14th, 2025

A famous phrase coined in 1913 holds that sunlight is the best disinfectant. The modern concept of transparency and, by extension, accountability derive from this vision of opening the windows in government to allow for the sun to shine in and throw light on practices of governance and public policy.  Public scrutiny makes behaviours visible and holds power accountable. As the IOG’s fourth principle of good governance, accountability and transparency are an important measure of the actions of government.  In this third article applying the IOG’s five principles of governance, we examine the government of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and its record of letting the sunlight in.

When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government came to power in 2015, accountability and transparency became one of the central themes of its political narrative. The new Liberal government promised open and accountable government. An assessment of its record shows that the Liberal government had mixed success, with achievements tempered by several controversies that called into question its commitment to these ideals.

In this article we reflect on 4 actions that sought to increase accountability, and in so doing, distinguish the Trudeau Government on these subjects: the Access to Information Act, Open Government, the mandate of the Parliamentary Budget Officer, and the model Science Integrity Policy. This article also reflects on some of the scandals that undermined the government’s efforts to promote accountability, transparency and ethics.

One of the first actions of the Liberal government was a pledge to reform the Access to Information Act, which had been criticized as outdated and too restrictive under the Harper government. In his “open letter to Canadians” dated November 4, 2015, the prime minister stated “[W]e committed to set a higher bar for openness and transparency in Ottawa. Government and its information must be open by default. Simply put, it is time to shine more light on government to make sure it remains focused on the people it was created to serve – you”.

Trudeau’s team committed to making government information more accessible to the public and enhancing transparency in the decision-making process. In line with this promise, the Liberals introduced reforms that included improvements in how government data was shared with the public and increased accessibility to records. This included expanding the open government program (launched in 2012 under Prime Minister Harper’s Conservative Government) to include on the Open Government website summaries of completed access to information requests. Trudeau’s government was also more open with the media and held more regular press briefings, an approach that contrasted with the Harper government’s often adversarial relationship with journalists.

A similar success was seen in the Liberal government’s expanded mandate of the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO), enabling it to provide more independent analysis of government fiscal matters. The PBO was created by the Harper government but very quickly descended into bitter disputes with the first holder of this office, Kevin Page, over his access to information and the government’s openness to scrutiny. The Liberal government expanded the PBO mandate and facilitated its access to information to allow Canadians, and in particular parliamentarians, a better understanding of how their tax dollars were being spent and facilitate greater independent scrutiny of public policy proposals. Subsequent holders of the office of PBO have benefited from this greater openness in the exercise of their role, making the PBO a more effective and less contentious part of parliamentary government.

The Liberal government did make efforts to consult Canadians on major policy decisions, including electoral reform (though unsuccessful). Later however the Liberal government’s abandonment of democratic reform as a priority belied this early commitment.  

For the pro-science and pro-evidence community in Canada, the swearing in of Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government was exciting. The Liberal party came to power with a platform that included a plan for science. In 2017, the Office of the Chief Science Advisor (OCSA) was re-instated, and among the OCSA’s first priorities was to develop a model Science Integrity Policy in collaboration with the Treasury Board Secretariat and the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada. The purpose for the policy would be to codify the rights and responsibilities of federal scientists and researchers regarding their professional conduct, dissemination of their research, and to speak openly about their findings, shielding them from political, commercial, or stakeholder interference. This move was welcomed by the scientific community for whom no such rights were codified in any legislation, and who had been subject to muzzling in recent years. The model policy would establish a series of common rights and responsibilities that applied across 24 federal departments and agencies who conduct research or related activities. The model policy also permitted those departments and agencies the ability to customize the policy according to the nature of their department’s research needs.

These early steps toward increasing accountability ultimately met with mixed success. With respect to ATIP, there have been numerous complaints that the government’s record on timely disclosure in response to requests has actually worsened, and that disclosed materials are often significantly redacted. By many accounts the model Science Integrity policy has been a success; all 24 federal departments and agencies have adopted the model policy, and it is recognized in the collective agreements for researchers and scientists.

By 2024 the government was at odds with the Commission of Inquiry into foreign interference, led by Justice Marie-Josee Hogue, concerning non-disclosure and redaction of documents to the commission. And parliamentary business was severely disrupted as the government squabbled with parliamentarians, including the Speaker, over a purported violation of privilege due to its refusal to hand over cabinet documents connected with alleged abuses by Sustainable Development Technology Canada. The government claimed that the possible handing over of documents to the RCMP could violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms while Parliament insisted that its right to documentation was absolute. The PM cited the impasse as one rationale for prorogation, though this was widely considered suspect.

In addition to concerns about disclosure, the Liberal government was embroiled in several high-profile controversies that raised questions about its commitment to transparency and ethical governance and in the Prime Minister’s own personal conduct.

The most significant of these controversies was the SNC-Lavalin scandal, which erupted in 2019. The affair centered around allegations that senior members of the Trudeau government had attempted to pressure then-Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould to intervene in a legal case involving the Quebec engineering firm SNC-Lavalin. The company was facing criminal charges related to bribery and corruption, and the government allegedly sought to secure a deferred prosecution agreement, which would allow the company to avoid a criminal trial. The scandal led to the resignation of Wilson-Raybould and another senior Liberal minister, Jane Philpott, who criticized the government’s handling of the situation. Many saw the incident as a breach of transparency, and critics argued that political interference in the judicial process undermined the independence of Canada’s legal system.

In addition to the SNC-Lavalin affair, the Trudeau government faced criticism over its handling of Indigenous issues. Although the government made early promises to improve relationships with Indigenous communities and implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action, many Indigenous leaders and activists have expressed frustration with the pace of change. The Liberal government’s approval of resource projects, such as the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, without the consent of affected Indigenous communities, raised concerns about the government’s commitment to transparency and respect for Indigenous rights.

Furthermore, the government’s handling of the WE Charity scandal in 2020 raised additional concerns about transparency and accountability. The government had awarded a large contract to the WE Charity – an organization with ties to the Trudeau family and to the Minister of Finance, Bill Morneau, and his family – to manage a student volunteer program, which raised ethical questions about conflicts of interest. The controversy led to the resignation of the Minister of Finance, several key officials and an investigation into the matter.

In both the SNC-Lavalin scandal and the WE Charity scandal, ethical investigations underlined the failures of the Liberal government and of the Prime Minister himself to conduct government with transparency and openness.

Ultimately, the Liberal government did achieve some notable successes to promote transparency and accountability.  However, the SNC-Lavalin affair, the handling of Indigenous issues, and the WE Charity controversy cast a shadow over the government’s promises of openness and accountability. As Prime Minister Trudeau found out, it turned out to be impossible for him to rebuild public trust in him as leader. Our attention will now be on the next government following the federal election on April 28 to see how their commitments to transparency and accountability will transpire.