Ethics watchdog investigating Trudeau over choice of WE Charity to run $900M student grant program

Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion has launched an investigation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the government's decision to task the WE Charity which has ties to Trudeau's family with administering a $900 million summer student grant program.

Trudeau and his government have been under fire since announcing the contract because of the charity's close association with the Trudeau family.

Trudeau and his mother, Margaret, haveappeared at a number of WE Day events, whileTrudeau's wife, Sophie Grgoire Trudeau, hosts a podcast for the group called "WE Well-being."

WE Charity said in a statement to CBC News that members of the Trudeau familydon't receive any appearance fees or honoraria when they appearat WE events. Grgoire Trudeau has been reimbursed for travel expenses related to her volunteer work with the organization.

Earlier today, the WE Charity and the federalgovernment announced they were ending the partnership.

Dion initiated his investigation afterConservative MP Michael Barrett and NDP MP Charlie Angusseparately wrote his office asking him to examine the prime minister's conductin relation to the contract.

In a letter to Barrett,Dion saidhe will be investigating Trudeau under subsection 6(1) of the Act,which prohibits public office holders from making decisions that furthertheir own private interests orthe interests of another person.

Trudeau also isbeing investigated under sections 7 and 21 of the act, which deal with giving someone preferential treatment and failing to recuse from a conflict of interest.

The WE Charitywas started by human rights advocatesMarc and Craig Kielburgerin 1995. Last month, Trudeau announced that it would administer the Canada Student Service Grant, which will provide eligible students with up to $5,000.

Charities push back

The grants are intended to help students cover the cost of post-secondary education in the fall. The amount of the grant depends on how much time a students spendsdoing volunteer work.

Shortly after it was announced that We Charity would be running the program, the Liberal government came under fire from opposition parties and some people in the charitable sector.

Watch:Federal government parts ways with WE charity on student grant plan:

Federal government parts ways with WE charity on student grant plan

4 years ago

Duration 2:04

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with reporters after news emerged that the WE charity would no longer run Ottawa's $900M program.

Volunteer Canada, a group that promotes volunteerism, said it would refuse to work with WE Charity because it objected to how the program was being administeredand to the idea of paying students for volunteer work.

Trudeau initially defended the partnership, saying WE was the only group with a nationwide network capable of operating a program on this scale for young people. Other charitable organizations havequestioned that assertion.

While the We Charity was tasked with running the program, it was gettingonly$19.5 million to cover its costs $5 million of which was supposed to be passed on to partner organizations such asPathways to Education.

Conservative Leader AndrewScheersaid that if Trudeau is confident that We Charity was the right choice, he should be willing to produce evidence to back up the decision.

"There's still no explanation as to why one charity with this level of involvement with the Trudeau family was the only one," Scheer told guest host Catherine Cullen onCBC News Network's Power & Politics.

"Did they do an exhaustive search? What can they point to as justification for We being the only group that can do this? Did they do an analysis? We'd like to find out this information."

PMO spokespersonChantal Gagnon told CBC that the office would "of course collaborate with the commissioner and answer any questions he may have."