By Canadian Press

PM Trudeau agrees to appear at House of Commons finance committee over WE deal

Jul 22, 2020 | 3:19 PM

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has agreed to appear before the House of Commons finance committee probing the Liberal government’s decision to give WE Charity a contract to run a $900-million student-volunteer program.

Cameron Ahmad, a spokesman for Trudeau, says the date and time have yet to be arranged.

The federal ethics watchdog is already investigating Trudeau’s role in giving the organization a contract to run the Canada Student Service Grant, a deal that has since been aborted.

The news comes after Finance Minister Bill Morneau revealed Wednesday that he sent a cheque to the WE organization just today to repay some $41,000 related to travel expenses the group covered prompting calls for his resignation.

After going over receipts ahead of his testimony to the finance committee, the finance minister says it was to his surprise that he couldn’t account for tens of thousands of dollars in expenses related to accommodation and other charges the organization covered.

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Morneau says it was always his intention to personally cover those amounts, but WE never charged them to him and his family.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 22, 2020.

The Canadian Press