PM rips Tories for push to keep WE probe alive
Trudeau says government is focused on COVID-19
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has blasted opposition parties for continuing their effort to dig into the WE Charity issue, and says his government is instead focused on helping Canadians through the COVID-19 pandemic.
The comments follow Conservative calls for a new anticorruption committee in the House of Commons to take over several parliamentary probes into a multimillion-dollar federal program for students the government chose WE Charity to manage in the spring.
New Democrats have also proposed a special committee that would dive into the government’s various responses to COVID-19, including the nowdefunct Canada Student Services Grant.
Both parties’ calls come as opposition parties have indicated they plan to resurrect the earlier probes at the Commons’ finance and ethics committees, which were suspended for months when Trudeau prorogued Parliament in August.
Trudeau sidestepped questions Tuesday about whether he would support having one special committee continue the investigation into WE, suggesting instead the issue is closed for the government and its priority is dealing with COVID-19.
“We are entirely focused on this second wave of COVID-19,” he said. “We will continue to stay focused on what we need to do to support Canadians facing a very difficult time right now.”
He went on to criticize the Conservatives, in particular, saying: “We have an awful lot of work to do and we’re going to continue doing it. … The opposition can focus on whatever it is they want. We will stay focused on Canadians.”
The Conservatives have vowed to continue probing the arrangement with WE as well as the Trudeau family’s links to the Toronto-based youth charity at the federal ethics and finance committees if the anticorruption committee is not created.