No way Trudeau and Morneau could have avoided being involved in WE deal, privy clerk tells committee,
Minister to appear before finance committee to talk about charity
An all-party parliamentary committee heard on Tuesday from the clerk of the privy council who told them there was no way Finance Minister Bill Morneau and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau could have avoided being involved in a now-controversial agreement with WE Charity.
Given the “scope” and “importance” of the program, Ian Shugart, clerk of the privy council, told MPs on the parliamentary finance committee that he didn’t see how Trudeau and Morneau could not have taken part in discussions.
Shugart is the latest highranking public servant to testify in front of the committee that’s been holding hearings about the WE Charity deal announced by the Liberal government last month. It’s since been cancelled amid charges of cronyism by the Opposition, allegations there were conflicts of interest in cabinet and an ethics investigation. On Tuesday, New Democrat MP Peter Julian asked Shugart if there were discussions about ministers recusing themselves from conversations around the deal, as well as about Trudeau and Morneau’s financial connections to WE through their family members.
Shugart said that he wasn’t aware of financial connections between Morneau and the charity, but that Trudeau’s “involvement” with WE “was in the public domain.”
“It did not particularly cross my mind that there was anything that needed to be disclosed because this was a wellknown fact,” he said.
“I do not see a way that the prime minister, or the finance minister responsible for public funds, could not have had involvement in the policy development and in the approval of finances on this scale.”
Earlier this month, Trudeau and Morneau apologized for not recusing themselves from cabinet discussions around the WE agreement. The charity was set to deliver up to $900 million in grants to students under the agreement and could have received $43.5 million to administer the program.
But after the agreement was announced, it was revealed that Trudeau’s mother and brother received a combined $282,000 between 2016 and 2020 from the group and that Morneau’s daughter works for WE.
Both politicians are facing ethics investigations.
Shugart said that conflict of interest issues didn’t come up at the public service level, and he doubled down on what politicians and public servants have been saying for weeks — that the public service wasn’t in a place to deliver the grant program, so it needed to be done by WE.
Shugart said he made “no judgment” about the prime minister and finance minister not recusing themselves from discussions about the WE deal.
Morneau is set to appear before the finance committee on Wednesday. He’s the highest ranking politician to testify so far and the second cabinet minister.
Last week, the first hearing at the committee saw Diversity and Inclusion and Youth Minister Bardish Chagger testify, along with high-ranking public service officials.
Up until then, the government had only said that $19.5 million was set aside for the charity to administer the Canada Student Service Grant (CSSG) program. Chagger revealed the government was prepared to provide as much as $43.5 million to WE.
Discussions about WE running the program began in April, high-ranking public servants told the finance committee last week.
The finance committee will continue hearing testimony on Wednesday.