Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau denied Thursday that a charity chosen by the government to administer a major student grant program received preferential treatment, although it had ties to his family.
The growing scandal over a multi-million dollar program awarded to WE Charity Canada has hurt Trudeau in the polls, with his Liberal Party falling to a four-point lead over opposition conservatives, an Abacus Data poll showed Thursday.
The popularity of the liberal government had skyrocketed amid Canada’s response to the COVID-19 crisis.
“WE Charity received no preferential treatment, from me or from anyone else,” Trudeau said in an opening statement. “The public service recommended WE Charity. I did absolutely nothing to influence that recommendation.”
“How much?”, “Only the dollar figure”: Deputy Pierre Poilievre repeatedly asks PM Trudeau how much money WE has paid his family.
Live coverage continues here: https://t.co/9A0P8TVYlx pic.twitter.com/bJuaSGhC3g
– CTV News (@CTVNews) July 30, 2020
That is in line with the civil service testimony to the same committee. Amid the frantic effort to push programs to help Canadians during the pandemic, the civil service recommended WE Charity as the only organization capable of quickly delivering the $ 500 million Canadian program ($ 372 million).
The government had previously said that the program would award up to $ 900 million Canadian dollars ($ 670 million) to students.
The prime minister has already publicly apologized for participating in the cabinet’s decision to choose WE Charity to administer the grant program because it created a perception of conflict of interest. The organization withdrew shortly after the program was announced.
The testimony of a Canadian prime minister before a parliamentary committee is very unusual. It last happened in 2006, when then Prime Minister Stephen Harper appeared at one o’clock to talk about Senate reform.
“We could have done better,” Trudeau’s chief of staff Katie Telford told the same committee after the prime minister spoke. She said another layer of scrutiny could have been added to dispel any perceived conflict of interest.
The files for “Alliances” and “Executive Files” were removed from We HQ Wednesday. Not sure where they were going? Wondering if any of the information found in these boxes will appear today when @JustinTrudeau is on the stand? @craigkielburger, can you tell us what it was about? pic.twitter.com/3N9ZRUqg9L
– Joe Warmington (@joe_warmington) July 30, 2020
Trudeau’s testimony comes after being investigated for possible violations of conflicts of interest. It is the third ethics investigation he has faced in three years.
Canada’s ethics commissioner launched the investigation after WE Charity revealed that he had paid Trudeau’s mother and brother for speaking.
Both the Prime Minister and his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, have regularly participated in WE Charity events.
SOURCE:
Reuters news agency
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