The controversy over the federal government's decision to grant a $912 million contract to a charity with links to the prime minister's family opens Prime Minister Justin Trudeau up to the conclusion that he violated federal ethics rules a third time.

What impact could it have on public opinion?

Twice already, Mario Dion, Canada's conflict of interest and ethics commissioner, has found the prime minister violated ethics rules. The first occasion was in 2017, when Trudeau and his family accepted a vacation on the Aga Khan's private island in the Bahamas.

The second occasion was just last year, when Dion found that Trudeau had tried to influence then-justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to overrule a decision not to grant a deferred prosecution agreement to SNC-Lavalin.

Dion already had announced he would be looking into the decision to grant the WE Charity a sole-sourced contract to administer the Canada Student Service Grant when the charity revealed it and its affiliates had paid the prime minister's mother and brother about $300,000 for speaking engagements over the last four years.

It takes time for the commissioner to complete an investigation. His office tweeted Friday that it usually takes about seven months. But if this scandal does any political damage to the prime minister and his party, it's likely to inflict it now — and not when the commissioner finally releases a report.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/grenier-trudeau-ethics-we-1.5645464