A Play In Four Acts Becomes a Ploy

"So myself, my team ... had all watched this [April 22 announcement], and the next day, the Prime Minister's Office kindly called us and said, 'You know that announcement we just made? Would you be interested in helping us actually implement it'?"

"So after much consideration, we put up our hand and said, of course, we're happy to be of assistance. This is really important at an important time."
Act One

"Speaking loosely and enthusiastically, I incorrectly referred to the Prime Minister's Office. In fact, the outreach came from unelected officials at Employment and Social Development Canada. To be specific, contact came to We Charity the week of April 26th, from a Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Skills and Employment Branch at Employment and Social Development Canada and various additional members of ESDC staff. In fact, all discussions came at the instigation of departmental officials and they led discussions with respect to contract and program parameters." 

Act Two

Marc Kielburger, co-Founder, WE Charity

Marc Kielburger and Prime Minister Justine Trudeau  Ashley Fraser/Postmedia

"When I'm listening to [WE Charity] speak on this, it sounds to me that they're really playing up their personal connections to the prime minister."

"The prime minister needs to explain how those connections work, because it certainly sounds from what WE Charity was telling their inner circle is that they were called directly, they had the inside track. It was all golden for them."

Charlie Angus, ethics critic, New Democratic Party

"It's totally different to have a prime Minister's Office call you as opposed to someone in the bureaucracy."

"I just don't believe he would be confusing that, because they've received grants and contracts from government departments. So they know the difference between the government department and the Prime Minister's Office."

Duff Conacher, Democracy Watch, accountability watchdog group

So, late last monthPrime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a special COVID-19 relief program for students, called the Canada Student Service Grant structured to pay students up to $5,000 over the summer for volunteering to work on special community projects. And it was later announced that a sole-service contract had gone out to a youth-centric charity group, linked to the Trudeau family. A group which had previously been the recipient of grants under $40,000, which under the sole-sourcing rules escaped going out to tender.

This time, over $900 million of taxpayer funding is involved in this very special program. A program the likes of which are usually administered by public service departments, just as the Summer Jobs Program always has been. And according to government figures, the student grant program has seen over 35,000 applications come in during the first week of its operation, a majority of which identify as visible minorities, a situation dear to the heart of this prime minister, who has delegated to himself complete authority in dispensing huge sums of treasury linked to COVID-19, no longer questioned by the Parliamentary opposition, because the prime minister manoeuvered a situation that has side-lined Parliament.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is being investigated for the third time by the federal ethics watchdog, this time for his government’s decision to outsource management of a $900 million COVID-19 student grant program to the WE Charity, where the prime minister’s wife is an “ambassador and ally,” as well as a podcast host.

The sole-sourcing of this contract with its huge pay-out and questionable accountability has roused the rage of Members of Parliament not of the ruling Liberal Party for its unconstitutional presentation, in the sense of its illegality, bypassing normal authorization and processes. Questions have been raised, and so have suspicions, and one revelation after another has been brought to public attention over the sole-sourced nature of this huge file.

And then came the reversal, with WE Charity announcing its withdrawal, a decision made by them, the statement claims, because the questions are distracting from the purpose of the student volunteer grant contract, unfairly targeting the government, and that's just such a great shame. Leading the prime minister to announce in his turn that "The decision taken by WE this morning to withdraw from this work with the government is one that we support. Obviously, the way this situation has unfolded has been unfortunate. We will continue to work hard to make sure that young people get the opportunities to serve their country, but it will no longer be with the WE organization." Act Three

An organization that the prime minister had been at great pains to iterate and reiterate had all the qualifications that the public service did not, to deliver the program in the best possible way. A charity hand-picked by the prime minister to administer the program where volunteers will become part of a paid workforce, though they will still be considered to be volunteers, according to the prime minister's strange reckoning, one that runs adverse to a national volunteer organization that raised its own objections to the situation.

On July 2nd, a letter was sent to Procurement Ombudsman Alexander Jeglic, sent by three Conservative Members of Parliament, stating their wish that the federal procurement watchdog review a series of sole-source contracts that have gone out to the WE Charity: "The Liberal government's pattern of providing untendered and sole-sourced contracts to an organization with close personal ties to the Prime Minister, who is head of the government, is deeply concerning to many Canadians. We believe that it would be greatly beneficial to Canadians and to the principle of 'open and transparent government' if your office were to review these contracts."

Now, moreover, the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner's office which previously published two damning reports on breaches of ethics by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in recent years -- accepting a costly family vacation at an island resort owned by a frequent lobbyist to government, and Trudeau's interference on behalf of a favoured Liberal-supporting company, undermining the authority of the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General -- has stated its intention to monitor the situation. 

And it didn't take long for the federal ethics commissioner to decide to investigate links between the Prime Minister and WE Charity in response to letters received by the Conservative and NDP parties. 

Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion has advised Justin Trudeau he will be opening an investigation into facets of the WE Charity deal. Mr. Dion wrote to MP Charlie Angus: 

"In your letter, you allege that, given the existence of Mr. Trudeau's close family ties with WE Charity and the outsourcing of this project to the charity over the federal public service or another volunteer organization, Mr. Trudeau afforded preferential treatment to WE Charity in contravention ... of the Conflict of Interest Act. I have considered your request and am of the view that it satisfies the requirements set out in ... the Act. I am therefore commencing an examination." Act Four

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrives on stage at We Day on Parliament Hill. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)