They Wrote the Law After the Scandal.
Now They're Writing the Law to Kill It.
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2016
Globe and Mail Exposes Trudeau's Cash-for-Access Fundraisers
Trudeau and senior cabinet ministers are caught raising millions at private events with tickets up to $1,500 per person — giving wealthy donors direct access to decision-makers outside public scrutiny.
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2017 — 2018
Liberals Apologize — Then Pass a Disclosure Law About Themselves
In 2017 the Liberals stop holding closed private-home fundraisers. In 2018 they go further — passing legislation requiring parties to publicly advertise any fundraising event priced above $200 attended by ministers, party leaders, or leadership candidates, and to post attendee lists after each event.
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September 2025
Carney Bars Media from Fundraisers — Reporters Turned Away in Edmonton
Reporters from The Globe and Mail and Global News are turned away from a Carney fundraiser in Edmonton. The Liberal Party tells journalists fundraising events are "no longer open to media."
Media Barred
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February 2026
Carney Holds $1,775-Per-Ticket Closed-Door Fundraiser in Vancouver
A private-residence event in Vancouver. Ticket price: $1,775 per person. No media access. For context: the average annual federal political donation in Canada is $75. That ticket is 24 times what an ordinary Canadian gives in an entire year.
$1,775 / Ticket — No Media
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March 26, 2026
Bill C-25 Tabled — Would Scrap the 2018 Disclosure Law Entirely
Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon tables the 45-page Elections Act overhaul. Buried inside: the repeal of the 2018 fundraiser transparency rules. The bill also strengthens privacy protections for political parties, making it harder for the public to access party records. MacKinnon defends the changes at a press conference on March 31.
The 2018 Law — Repealed
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$1,775
Carney fundraiser ticket
Vancouver, Feb 2026 |
$75
Average annual federal
donation by a Canadian |
That gap — $1,775 vs. $75 — is the gap between the people who get the access and the people who don't. The 2018 law existed precisely to make that access visible. Bill C-25 closes the curtain.
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✓ What Carney Promised
"High standards for ethics and transparency." Fundraising events should be publicly advertised and include attendee lists.
— Carney / Liberal Party policy, 2025–2026
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✗ What Bill C-25 Does
Scraps the 2018 disclosure law. Strengthens party privacy rules. Eliminates the requirement to post attendee lists. Closes the door the scandal forced open.
— MacKinnon / Bill C-25, March 26, 2026
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✓ The 2018 Law
Required Liberals to publicly advertise any $200+ fundraiser with ministers or party leaders — and publish attendee lists after each event.
— Liberal Government, 2018
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✗ The New Reality
Carney holds $1,775 closed-door fundraisers with no media. Bill C-25 would make that secrecy permanent — with no legal mechanism to expose who is in the room.
— Carney / Bill C-25, 2025–2026
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The bill is 45 pages. It contains enough uncontroversial provisions to bury the transparency rollback inside a package that looks reasonable from the headline. There are rules targeting foreign interference. There are measures to outlaw certain questionable donations. There is a provision aimed at the Longest Ballot protest movement. Each of those provisions generates a separate news cycle. The disclosure repeal gets one paragraph.
In 2016, The Globe and Mail caught the Liberals running a cash-for-access system. In 2017, the Liberals apologized. In 2018, the Liberals passed a law requiring themselves to disclose who attended their high-dollar fundraisers. In 2026, with a majority within reach, the same party has tabled a bill to repeal that law.
The prime minister who promised higher standards for ethics is now the prime minister whose government is legislating lower ones. Bill C-25 has enough other provisions — foreign interference, protest crackdowns, electoral changes — to bury the transparency rollback inside a 45-page package. But the rollback is the provision that tells you what this government actually thinks about who gets to see what it does.
The cash-for-access scandal that defined the Trudeau years is being quietly legislated out of existence. And the public will no longer have the tools to catch the next one.