By Nirmala Menon
It hasn’t been an easy couple of weeks for Canada’s Conservative party, scrambling to defend the actions of some of its members amid a growing expense-account scandal in the Senate. But over the weekend, it was Justin Trudeau—the young, charismatic opposition leader and son of a former prime minister—playing the uncharacteristic role of defense.
In recent weeks, Mr. Trudeau has been aggressively hounding the Conservatives’ handling of the expenses controversy. Amid the scandal, he has pledged to “raise the bar” on openness and accountability in government.
But on Sunday, Mr. Trudeau pledged to repay a C$20,000 speakers’ fee to a charity that had claimed it lost money on the fundraiser that he headlined. While it’s legal to accept outside speaking fees as a member of parliament, a number of political opponents criticized Mr. Trudeau for doing so, and for refusing to refund the money.
Mr. Trudeau’s office wasn’t immediately available for comment. On Sunday, he told CTV he was willing to pay back fees.
“I’m willing to pay all the money back, if that’s what it comes to,” he said.
The controversy threatens to mar Mr. Trudeau’s short, but so far-respectable, run as rookie leader of the Liberal party. A public opinion poll by Forum Research conducted for the National Post last month found that 44% of Canadians would vote for the Liberals–a level of support that would win them a majority of seats in the House of Commons.
The poll was conducted amid ongoing controversy over a spending scandal involving lawmakers in the Senate, the upper house of Parliament. Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s former chief of staff Nigel Wright resigned after the government said he gave Conservative Senator Mike Duffy over C$90,000 to help pay off housing expenses that he shouldn’t have claimed. Canada’s national police said last week it was probing the payment. Mr. Duffy has said he welcomes a full airing of his spending. Mr. Wright hasn’t responded to requests for comment.