On Monday, the Toronto Member of Parliament Ratansi announced that she is leaving the ranks of the Liberal Party after an investigation by the state CBC broadcaster revealed that she employed her sister in her Don Valley East constituency office in violation of nepotism rules.
"I am deeply disappointed by the news I learned yesterday from Ms Ratansi and how she handled the office", Trudeau told reporters. "It is unacceptable and I expect there to be a thorough follow up by the House administration on this".
Rantansi reportedly employed her sister under a false identity throughout much of her 12 years in office - between 2004 and 2011 and since 2015. She is the second Member of Parliament in 2020 to leave the Liberal Party because of a scandal.
"I made an error in judgement by employing my sister in my constituency office, and I have remedied the situation, but this does not excuse the error I made", Ratansi wrote on her Facebook page.
Yet another former Liberal member of parliament is facing fraud and breach of trust charges for using his position as a public office holder to solicit loans for his personal benefit.
In light of the multiple instances of wrongdoing by former members of his caucus, Trudeau defended the Liberal Party, saying that he works with "an extraordinary group of MPs'" and that he will continue to hold them to the highest standard.
Ratansi said in a statement that the incident has been referred to the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner and that she is awaiting guidance from the ethics commissioner.
