Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he didn’t speak to WE Charity officials about the Canadian Student Service Grant (CSSG) program prior to May 8th.
Trudeau is testifying this afternoon about the Federal Government’s decision to have the WE organization run the summer student-volunteer program.
Trudeau says the Canada Service Corps was initially to support the grant program, but delivering it required an external non-government service provider, so the decision was to pick WE.
“We Charity received no preferential treatment, not from me, not from anyone else,” said Trudeau. “The Public Service recommended WE Charity and I did absolutely nothing to influence that recommendation. I didn’t even know it had been made until May 8th. And when I learned that WE Charity was recommended, I pushed back – I wanted to be satisfied that the proposal that WE Charity deliver the CSSG had been properly (scrutinized).”
Under a cloud of controversy, WE left the program earlier this month due to its connections with Trudeau, his family and Finance Minister Bill Morneau.
The Conservatives want Trudeau and Morneau to resign over the scandal.
Morneau has already repaid $41,000 in WE-related travel expenses.
By May 21st Trudeau says the due diligence had been done and the Public Service said the program could only go ahead with WE Charity. It was then presented to Cabinet after that.
Trudeau’s Chief of Staff Katie Telford follows him today during questioning by the finance committee at the House of Commons.
Justin Trudeau says they had to act without being limited by the normal way of doing things. I suppose he means he couldn’t be limited by things like ethics.
— Andrew Scheer (@AndrewScheer) July 30, 2020
To watch Trudeau and Telford’s testimony today, see below.
https://www.cpac.ca/en/direct/hoc5/482663/pm-trudeau-appears-before-house-of-commons-finance-committee/