Tories call for criminal probe in WE scandal

The Conservatives said Friday they want a criminal investigation into the Liberal government’s decision to have the WE organization run a $900-million program for student volunteers.

Their call for police to step in followed revelations the group has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees to members of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s family over several years.

Trudeau is already under investigation by the ethics commissioner for potential conflict of interest with regard to the contract, as his long-standing family ties to the group are well known. But that review was launched prior to the disclosure by the WE organization that in the past, they had paid the prime minister’s mother, brother and wife for apperances at their events.

“The revelation that $350,000 in cash was paid by this organization to immediate members of Justin Trudeau’s family, that organization that he awarded a sole-sourced $1-billion contract to, that revelation raises the need for the police to take a look at it,” Conservative ethics critic Michael Barrett said Friday.

The prime minister’s mother Margaret Trudeau has a profile as a mental health advocate and has been in the public eye for decades. On Thursday, the WE organization said she had been paid about $250,000 for 28 speaking appearances between 2016 and 2020.

The prime minister’s brother Alexandre, who is a filmmaker, has been paid $32,000 for eight events, according to WE.

The organization that represents them as speakers was paid additional commissions, WE said.

And Trudeau’s wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, who had a career in television, received $1,400 in 2012 for a single appearance that year.

Most of the payments were from the organization’s for-profit component, ME to WE Social Enterprise, which sponsors the charitable component, WE Charity said in a statement.

About $64,000 went from WE Charity to Margaret Trudeau’s speaker’s bureau because of “an error in billing / payment” that WE said was later corrected.

“Justin Trudeau has never been paid by WE Charity or ME to WE Social Enterprise for any speeches or any other matters,” WE Charity said.

Trudeau’s office said Thursday said “the prime minister’s relatives engage with a variety of organizations and support many personal causes on their own accord.”