Trudeau expected issues of perception with the agreement we, but no conflict of interest

That despite Trudeau saying he knew the public and opposition politicians would consider the deal because of his and his family’s ties to WE, that is why he told public servants who recommended the organization return and absolutely make sure they were on solid ground.

“I knew there would be issues of perception about this,” Trudeau said in Ottawa on Friday, speaking to reporters less than 24 hours after making a rare prime ministerial appearance on a House of Commons committee about his role in the controversy. .

“At the same time, giving a grant program to students who volunteer across the country has nothing to do with any work my brother or mother has done with WE and that is why there has been no conflict of interest.”

Trudeau said he should have agreed to the discussions, but instead chose to ask that due diligence become something he says he now regrets.

The prime minister testified Thursday that he did not learn that we had been selected by the public service to run the program until May 8, which was just hours before the deal was taken to the cabinet for approval. That’s when, Trudeau said, he puts the brakes on the deal. “We pulled the issue off the agenda so we could do the right thing, the way,” Trudeau told the Commons finance committee.

The public service later returned on May 21 to reaffirm its recommendation that WE be the only organization that could run the student volunteer program, Trudeau said. We ended up supporting the agreement in early July on political controversy.

Trudeau on the committee

Trudeau Chief of Staff Katie Telford testified that civil servants presented it as a “binary choice” or they move forward with WE Charity to deliver the program or they will not go ahead with it at all.

Trudeau acknowledged his family involvement with WE: his mother, brother and wife attended and spoke at WE events, and hundreds of thousands of dollars were paid in fees and expenses, although he testified that the amounts were not previously known for the.

He stressed that during this time there has been no conversation with WE co-founders Craig and Marc Kielburger and that WE Charity has not received any preferential treatment from him or anyone else in government.

He also said he did not talk to his staff about WE Charity or his proposed involvement in the volunteer program until May 8, although he has since learned that the policy staff in his office had worked with the Privy Council Office and other departments, and they knew WE Charity was under consideration to make efforts.

The Prime Minister and Telford also noted that Sophie Gregoire Trudeau’s work with WE, including a podcast on Mental Wellness, has been unpaid in addition to the expenses covered by the organization, all of which had been cleared by the ethics commissioner.

Conservatives and the NDP have called on federal ethics watchdog Mario Dion to expand his investigation into Trudeau to include these costs.

Dion is already investigating Trudeau and Finance Minister Bill Morneau for possible breaches of the Conflict of Interest Act for not redistributing them during cabinet discussions on the WE agreement. Dion is also looking at the WEB-sponsored trips that Morneau and his family took in 2017. Morneau paid $ 41,000 in related expenses last week.

Opposition MPs in the Commons finance committee are now pushing to hear from more new employees in the prime minister’s office and demanding access to cabinet documents.

They want more detailed answers as to why the Charity started working and causing expenses for the program on May 5, when it had not yet been approved by the cabinet.

Telford told the committee that another Trudeau aide spoke to WE the same day, though she said he was referring to the public service NE to talk about anything substantial.

The Kielburger brothers have said those permanent officials told WE that it could incur expenses before the deal was awarded.

They said they wanted to do the program quickly, and started work knowing they could lose money if the cabinet said no.

Meanwhile, the Student Service Grant in Canada is now unlikely to be part of the $ 9 billion student assistance program that Ottawa is completing this summer, Trudeau said, adding that he regrets the way the whole affair unfolded.