The PM gets a pass. Bill Morneau? Not so much. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here to get it delivered weekday mornings. Yesterday, everyone in town clicked on the latest report from Mario Dion, the ethics commissioner, with keen anticipation. Trudeau III dove deep on the Prime Minister's role in last year's summer-defining foofaraw. Dion and his predecessor, Mary Dawson, had already twice slapped the PM on the wrist for an ill-advised trip to a private island and for improperly pressuring a former justice minister . Two is bad, but three makes a trend. In the end, though, Dion stayed true to Paul Wells's first rule for how things happen in the nation's capital: "For any given situation, Canadian politics will tend toward the least exciting possible outcome." The commish absolved Trudeau of wrongdoing. He concluded the PM wasn't a friend of the Kielburger brothers and his pre-recusal participation in discussions about the ill-fated Canada Student Service Grant didn't amount to a conflict of interest. Dion wasn't so kind to Bill Morneau, Trudeau's only-ever finance minister until he was forced out resigned last summer after admitting to not repaying WE Charity for outstanding travel expenses. The ethics commissioner ruled that Morneau was friends with Craig Kielburger, he was in a conflict of interest and he did give WE Charity preferential treatment. The former FinMin tweeted a terse statement on the heels of the report. This has been a year to forget for Morneau, who dropped out of the race for his backup gig—secretary-general of the OECD—back in January. Tory leader Erin O'Toole, who played up Dion as a "federal investigator," could only conclude that any law that didn't find Trudeau guilty was a broken law. NDP MP Charlie Angus, a relentless attack dog on the WE Charity file, both accepted and ignored Dion's conclusion. "No matter the guilty verdict or not, the important point is, the Liberals decided to help their friends and it hurt people," he said. "The Prime Minister continues to promote a culture that looks after friends and cronies." Border battle: Ontario Premier Doug Ford made his first public appearance since the end of two weeks in isolation. He reassured a weary province that COVID-19 cases are trending down, but he still extended lockdown measures until June 2. Ford spent most of his presser attacking Liberals in Ottawa for not doing enough to keep dangerous coronavirus variants out of Canada. His office later sent the press gallery copies of four letters that pleaded for tighter border controls. Trudeau seems to want more detailed requests from Queen's Park. A productive conversation, this is not. How COVID-19 is spreading in Canada on domestic flights: In the latest print issue of Maclean's, Patricia Treble tracked how many COVID-positive passengers are travelling within Canada—and where they're headed. Check out the full, coast-to-coast graphic. Two-thirds of flights originated in the four Western provinces, led by British Columbia (169) and Alberta (138), while 111 took off from Ontario and 40 from Quebec. Many came from cities that are hubs for essential workers, who tend to rotate between job sites and their homes in other parts of Canada, sometimes taking multiple flights each way. Canada's roadmap to reopening: Look to Saskatchewan to set the example, writes Treble (whom we can't confirm ever sleeps!). The prairie province has inoculated a larger proportion of residents than anyone else in the federation, and the plan for this summer offers a tantalizing glimpse of normalcy. The first step of the province’s Re-Opening Roadmap occurs three weeks after 70 per cent of those 40 and older have received first doses and vaccine eligibility has been opened to all adults, 18 and older. Premier Scott Moe expects that will occur in the last week of May, and at that point some restrictions ease. Bars and restaurants will open, and up to 30 people will be permitted to attend indoor public gatherings. As further vaccination and timing targets are reached, more public health measures will be eased. A prairie rebellion: Next door in Alberta, the chair of the United Conservative caucus, Todd Loewen, resigned in disgust. "I no longer believe the caucus can function properly," he wrote to Premier Jason Kenney. Albertans see their government as "out of touch and arrogant," he continued, adding that his party "did not unite around blind loyalty to one man." You can see where this is going. Loewen called for Kenney to resign so someone else could "begin to put the province back together again." Last night, Loewen and fellow MLA Drew Barnes found themselves on the outside looking in. The caucus gave them the boot during a meeting that was leaked in real time to the Western Standard. Board of external anatomy: Liberal whip Mark Holland hoped to convince fellow members of the Board of Internal Economy, the all-party committee that oversees House of Commons administration, to question Bloc Québécois MP Sébastien Lemire about the photograph of a nude MP he'd admitted to snapping. The opposition parties were down to have a conversation with Lemire in-camera, but Holland wanted a recorded vote. That launched a new debate, because the committee typically operates by consensus. The board adjourned before deciding anything. —Nick Taylor-Vaisey | 
