07.27.2020 03:51 PM

#WEgate: your money, their friends

And it was backdated, too.

From the Globe:

The deal that WE Charity struck with the federal government allowed it to collect the fee for administering the Canada Student Service Grant within one week of the Trudeau Liberals announcing the group would run the new program.

The contract, which was first announced on June 25, but cancelled on July 3 amid conflict-of-interest accusations against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, would allow the charity to collect $33-million in fees by July 2.

It was publicly released Monday through the House of Commons finance committee, which is studying the controversy around the government’s decision to award the contract to the charity despite multiple financial ties that the families of Mr. Trudeau and Finance Minister Bill Morneau have with WE. On Monday, the finance committee confirmed that Mr. Trudeau and his chief of staff, Katie Telford, will testify on Thursday afternoon.

Both Mr. Trudeau and Mr. Morneau have apologized for failing to recuse themselves from the cabinet decision to award WE the contract. The Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner is investigating whether they broke federal ethics laws.

The contract was signed on June 23, but came into effect on May 5, 2020.

21 Comments

  1. joe long says:

    Is this part of the $912 million program that would pay 100,000 students up to $5000 each to volunteer?

    100,000 x $5000 = $500 million.

    That leaves a lot of slush to put in brown paper bags.

    Or perhaps it would be used for complementary cabinet minister trips? Or to buy new boats for Harrington Lake? Or more speakers fees for friends?

  2. Martin says:

    Good lord. Let’s hope they are solvent enough to pay it back. From the article.

    “The government first announced the contract on June 25, but it was cancelled on July 3 amid conflict-of-interest accusations against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The deal called for all the money to be paid to WE by July 2. The charity said Monday it received $30-million on June 30, but will refund all the money. “The details of repayment are presently being worked out with the government,” WE said in a statement.”

    • RKJ says:

      This keeps getting worse. So WE received $30m in cash, just before the contract was cancelled – I trust this will be rigorously examined by the Commons finance committee,

      However, the best ethics committee and financial review committee are we Canadian citizens, as voiced in an election. The opposition Parties may have no choice but to bring down this government.

  3. Doug says:

    If ScientoloWE goes under, where will Trudeau find gainful employment after his political career ends? His days as a paid speaker are likely over. The UN probably won’t hire him. Maybe he can join the roster of C list celebrities on Dancing with the Stars.

    • Doug says:

      Maybe Margaret can score the whole extended famiky a gig at TMZ. She has the have some more tales of celebrity escapades from her Studio 54 days to sell.

  4. the real Sean says:

    Everyone needs to settle down, nothing to see here, this is all quite normal.

    Apparently WE is a real-estate investment company with a feeder fund posing as a silly charity / cult, which happens all the time. It naturally follows that the public service decided to force poor Justin Trudeau into unknowingly approving the expenditure of nearly a billion dollars to manage volunteers / underpaid students.

    Bill Morneau has happily reminded Joe and Jane front porch of all the times they went on a $40,000 vacation and didn’t know who paid for it.

    Since all of this adds up so nicely and is quite relatable, there will be no Liberal Leadership Contest.

  5. joe long says:

    Where did the WE payment go?

    Will that WE entity pay it back? Or has the money been disbursed, leaving the WE entity to declare bankruptcy?

  6. Joseph says:

    The question asked is not as relevant as if one of the individuals provides a contradictory answer to the others.
    That requires all the individuals being called before committee to answer all questions concisely and clearly.
    So, of all the witnesses are there any with a history of not being clear and concise?

    • Martin says:

      The liberals on the committee yesterday were trying to get all the witnesses before them before JT testified. It didn’t work. Assume so JT’s testimony would be consistent. Let’s see if he still shows up on the 28th.

      Sean Fraser tried to sound so reasonable and cooperative. But anyone who buys that nonsense has forgotten how the liberals shut down the SNC investigations. And how the ethics committee is currently ragging the puck.

      • Martin,

        If I was unfortunate enough to be a current Liberal MP, I too would also desperately want all witnesses heard before this Prime Minister appears on Thursday afternoon.

        It’s their hope that such a tactic will reduce the incredibly high odds of the PM’s testimony blowing this government right out of the water.

        Wednesday bedtime should be incredibly stressful, if thy political name is Liberal.

        • Martin says:

          I really shouldn’t watch these committee hearings. Same reason I read The Daily Star I guess. I just get more and more irritated. Watched the end of the finance committee meeting from yesterday this morning and the liberals continuing to rag the puck and talking abut how they shouldn’t be spending so much time talking about WE and how they should be talking about other things. Then, here’s a couple of thoughts, STFU and get to work and consider doing two things at once. Maybe even sit for a few extra hours. And don’t giggle and raise your hand and object like that silly Dzerowicz did when PP tried to extend the meeting yesterday afternoon.

  7. Martin says:

    Rex Murphy in fine form today.

    https://nationalpost.com/opinion/rex-murphy-wes-moment-of-glory-turns-potentially-fatal

    Our firm has done municipal and hospital work for the entire 100 years of our existence. We have had relationships with some of these entities for well over 70 years. We would NEVER spend significant dollars on an engagement based on a wink and a nod. We would wait until a legally enforceable contract was entered into or approved by its board. Out here in the real world of non Laurentian elites even staff recommendations can disappear in a puff of smoke once the politicians meet(as they should).

  8. Robert White says:

    If the Conservative shadow minister of finance can’t force this issue into election mode before September it will be smooth sailing for the Liberal Party from there on out.

    This We debacle is the nail in the coffin for Liberal Party rule forward as they have lost the moral mandate to lead the country just on conflict of interest charges alone.

    No tactician could pull the Liberal Party out of this mire.

    RW

    • Terence says:

      No. This is a Trudeau problem. The conservative Party is unfit to govern. They have leadership candidates who would like to ban equal marriage or get us into American wars of empire or sell the country to the oil Lobby or force us to borrow from private lenders rather than the BOC so we are twisted into cutting the social safety net. The rank and file is full of open racists. What do they expect the conservative party to do for them? Conservative party policies and political culture is a font of misery. Most Canadians know this. Liberals are fine. Trudeau and Morneau are not. They have to go. I support the NDP but I will always vote Liberal to keep conservatives out of office if necessary. Always.

      • Terence,

        Let’s get real, OK. Last time I checked both MacKay and O’Toole favoured equal marriage and a woman’s right to choose. Those candidates who don’t are not likely to become leader (I wonder why.) of the party.

        Need I remind you that anyone who has ever had a single racist thought is technically racist on the margins and that goes far beyond the CPC or LPC.

        As for you voting Liberal, that’s your right but don’t forget that this government’s arrogance will more than likely amount to Trudeau leading them in the next election. Guess you’ll be back to voting NDP, as long as they don’t pledge to prop Trudeau up right after the election, IF he wins again?

        • Should be as for you voting NDP.

        • the real Sean says:

          Agree w. R.O’D…. Stephen Harper, a Conservative, ended Canada’s troop deployment in Afghanistan. Jean Chretien started it, Paul Martin escalated it, Michael Ignatieff supported extending it. Liberals don’t have a history of staying out of America’s wars. As for SSM… The Conservatives had gay MPs and gay CabMins. With a majority for four years, they did absolutely nothing with that file. This nonsense will not save the Liberals next time around.

          • Nonsense. Chretien kept us out of Iraq, when Harper demanded we go. Even Martin would have gone into Iraq had he been leader at the time.

          • Darwin,

            Both TRS and you are correct. I well remember Harper as Alliance leader raising Cain to get into Iraq, along with W Bush.

            But what matters is the CPC in 2020 and regardless of whom becomes leader, our government won’t be going back to Afghanistan should we win the next election. That’s a virtual certainty.

  9. Terence says:

    LOL…corruption is baked into municipal politics. Everywhere. In my experience significant numbers of local politicians are hacks with ties to real estate developers, used car dealerships and sometimes organized crime (how many bodies are poured into the concrete of Montreal’s”big o”?) Sadly many of these types then “graduate” to provincial or federal politics once they get local name recognition. In my view no person should be able to meet with the government about any procurement or service delivery agreement without a scrutineer from all other official parties in the house.

  10. Vote Quimby says:

    I bet the Prime Minister learned how to skim off the top during his days as a Camp Counsellor with Katimavik.

    He missed the point on the diversity lessons of Katimavik, see his Arabian Nights days.

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