Canada’s top bureaucrat said today that both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Bill Morneau had to be involved in their government’s controversial decision to choose the WE Charity to administer a $900-million student volunteering program because of the program’s size and importance.
Canada’s top bureaucrat said today that both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Bill Morneau had to be involved in their government’s controversial decision to choose the WE Charity to administer a $900-million student volunteering program because of the program’s size and importance.
Testifying before the House of Commons finance committee, Clerk of the Privy Council Ian Shugart said he doesn’t see a way the two could have avoided taking part in the discussion, despite their families’ ties to the organization.
“Given the importance of the issue to the government’s overall efforts to deal with the impacts of the pandemic and given the scale of the contribution … I do not see a way that the prime minister or the finance minister responsible for public funds could not have had involvement in the policy development and in the approval of finances on this scale,” said Shugart.
Shugart said that while Trudeau’s connections to the WE organization were well known, he wasn’t aware that Morneau also had ties to WE.
The committee is probing how cabinet reached its decision to hand control over the $912 million Canada Student Service Grant Program to WE, which would have been responsible for connecting tens of thousands of students with volunteer opportunities and issuing grants based on their volunteer work.
WATCH: Shugart tells MPs prime minister and finance minister had to be involved in WE Charity contract decision
Clerk of the Privy Council Ian Shugart appeared before the Commons Finance committee on Tuesday. 1:32
The deal, since terminated, could have paid the organization up to $43.5 million.
The decision to give WE sole responsibility for the program has been widely criticized since it was revealed that the organization has paid Trudeau’s mother and brother hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees, and that Morneau’s daughter is employed by the organization.
Trudeau and Morneau are now under investigation by Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion; both have apologized for not recusing themselves from the cabinet decision.
Shugart told the committee Trudeau was briefed about the development of the program, but suggested the prime minister had no contact with the organization in connection with the student volunteer