The prime minister Justin Trudeau
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July 12, 2020 16h08
Updated 17: 20
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The conservatives want to call Trudeau before a parliamentary committee
Lee Berthiaume
The Canadian Press
OTTAWA – The federal conservatives want to call the prime minister Justin Trudeau in front of a parliamentary committee to explain on the decision of his government to give the contract to manage the scholarship program for the volunteer student $ 900 million to the organization STATES.
The spokesperson for the conservative Party in matters of finance, Pierre Poilievre, said Sunday the intentions of his party on that issue.
“He has to explain where it comes from exactly this idea, said Mr. Poilievre in a press conference. STATES the he called to him to suggest the idea? The he designed himself? Is this his loved ones that had already been paid by the organization that have done it? You should hear the prime minister address himself to these questions.”1
It acknowledges that it is rare for a prime minister to appear before a parliamentary committee, Mr. Poilievre judge that it is essential that Justin Trudeau and Bill Morneau are in response to questions from the committee since the controversy personally. Both will be sworn in as witnesses.
“There are two of how to proceed, said Mr. Poilievre. The prime minister may voluntarily agree to submit and comply with the invitation of a parliamentary committee. This is what he will do if he has nothing to hide.”
“We can use the available means in our parliamentary system to force it to answer our questions. It would take more time, but this could be done, or we should do it, if the prime minister is exempt from the obligation to render accounts.”
The conservatives will have to rely on the support of the Bloc québécois and the New democratic Party to achieve this. Mr. Poilievre has not spoken of the intentions of the conservative, but he has tried to exert some pressure on by saying that “if they wanted to get the truth, they would vote in favour of this resolution.”
Sunday, the Bloc québécois has not responded to interview requests, while the NDP critic on finance, Peter Julian, refused to engage.
“The neo-democrats believe that it is necessary to get to the bottom of things and the more we will receive answers, including MESSRS. Trudeau and Morneau, the faster the canadian public will be informed, he said. Canadians want answers and they need to know that this will not happen again.”
Even if the opposition parties agree to direct Justin Trudeau to appear before the committee using their own majority in the House of commons, there is no guarantee that this will happen, argues an expert on parliamentary procedures Philippe Lagasse of the University of Ottawa.
Although the elected officials may require a member to appear before a committee, it-and in this case, the prime minister would ask the president of the Chamber if the request is appropriate.
“The Room can tell that she really wants to hear this person and want to force it to appear, mentions Mr. Lagasse, but this would require a decision of the President, in all likelihood.”
He also noted that the Parliament will have little chances to resolve this issue, since it should not sit on that three-day total by 21 September.
The controversy
Mr. Trudeau had announced June 25 the creation of the canadian stock Exchange for the volunteer student. He had then explained to that tens of thousands of students are having difficulty in finding a summer job because of the COVID-19 may make up to 500 hours of volunteer time to win up to $ 5000 for their expenses of college or university studies.
The prime minister has defended the decision of his government, saying that federal officials had recommended STATES to manage the canadian stock Exchange for the volunteer student. But the participation of Mr. Trudeau in events of the organization had already raised questions even before the revelations of last week that the woman, the mother and the brother of the prime minister would have received honoraria for delivering speeches at events organized by STATES.
Mr. Trudeau and his minister of Finance, Bill Morneau, have both confirmed that they have not objected to the vote of the council of ministers approving the grant of the contract to UNITED. One of the daughters of Mr. Morneau has delivered speeches at events WE while another is contractual to the organization.
The office of Mr. Morneau has denied that there were links between the government decision and the work of his girls.
The conservatives and new democrats have demanded that the commissioner of conflict of interest and ethics, Mario Dion, who is already investigating on the issue of whether M Trudeau has violated the Law on conflict of interests, is also focusing on the case of the minister of Finance.
The government and STATES have put an end to the agreement on 3 July, depriving the organization up to $ 19 million. It is the federal ministry of Employment and social Development, which now manages the program.
