PM DIDN’T RECUSE SELF FROM WE VOTE
A shift in language from Trudeau
OTTAWA • Prime Minister Justin Trudeau admits that he did not recuse himself from the federal cabinet vote to outsource a $900-million student volunteer program to WE Charity, which has close ties to him and his family.
“The recommendation to use WE to get opportunities out for young people was made by the public service. But as a cabinet, we ratify those decisions,” Trudeau acknowledged for the first time at a news conference on Wednesday.
When asked if he recused himself from those discussions and the final decision, the prime minister responded: “I did not.”
Since the WE Charity controversy began nearly two weeks ago, Trudeau’s office had refused to detail his involvement in the outsourcing process.
Instead, he’s repeatedly said that civil servants made the decision to hire the Toronto-based organization to administer the Canada Student Service Grant (CSSG). WE Charity was to be paid at least $19 million.
Last Friday, as he announced that WE Charity had pulled out of the deal, he went so far as to say that he knew the decision needed to be made by bureaucrats because of the longstanding relationship between his government and WE Charity. He never said his cabinet had the final say in the decision.
“We knew from the beginning that because of work that has been ongoing between this government and WE that this was a decision needed to be made by our professional public service. They made the decision in a transparent and open and rigorous way,” the prime minister said.
On Wednesday, the Trudeau government’s language changed. Instead of saying the public service had made the decision, Liberals now say it had simply “recommended” it to cabinet.
Trudeau is already facing a conflict of interest investigation into the contract. Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion confirmed Friday that he was reviewing Trudeau’s handling of the file. Two parliamentary committees are also expected to dig into the WE Charity deal.
Until 2017, the prime minister regularly attended or hosted the organization’s annual stadium-sized rally for Canadian youth, called “WE Day.”
His wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, hosts a WE podcast and is a “WE ambassador and ally.” She attended a WE Day event in London with her daughter and the prime minister’s mother, Margaret Trudeau, in March.
Asked to explain why he did not recuse himself, Trudeau said he has always been involved in efforts to serve youth in Canada.
“I have long worked on youth issues, both before politics, and since I’ve been in politics as youth critic. Getting young people involved in serving their country, recognizing their desire to build a better Canada, particularly through this time of crisis, is something that I believe in deeply,” Trudeau said.
Critics say Trudeau’s latest admission has all the appearances of a conflict of interest.
“It’s a bit astounding that it seems like they’re not learning the lesson on general practices, due diligence and on things like recusals and following guidance on conflict of interest,” said James Cohen, executive director of Transparency International Canada.
NDP ethics critic Charlie Angus said Trudeau’s perceived “indifference” to federal procurement and conflict of interest laws was “staggering.”
“Again, this shows that neither the prime minister nor anyone around him seems to think that following the laws of the land matters when it comes down to helping people that they like. That is not acceptable,” said Angus.
Many questions regarding the decision to outsource the Canada Student Service Grant remain unanswered.
On Monday, the National Post reported that the public service refused to disclose how many and which organizations other than WE Charity had been considered for the CSSG contract.
During question period in Parliament Wednesday, Conservative finance critic Pierre Poilievre repeatedly put the same question to the Liberals.
Every time, Diversity and Inclusion and Youth Minister Bardish Chagger refused to answer.
“The public service made a recommendation for this organization to deliver the Canada Student Service Grant, we accepted their recommendation,” Chagger repeated.