Bardish Chagger said Thursday the finance Committee of the House of commons that she had not personally had conversations with members of the law firm of Justin Trudeau or the minister of Finance, Bill Morneau, before the agreement is approved by the ministers.
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16 July 2020 13: 24
Updated at 23h29
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The minister of Youth has not been mandated to select the organization STATES
The canadian Press
OTTAWA — The federal minister of Youth says that it has not been mandated by the office of the prime minister, to enter into an agreement with the organization UNITED for the management of the grants program volunteer for students – an agreement that has since had an abortion and is mired in ethical considerations.
Bardish Chagger said Thursday the finance Committee of the House of commons that she had not personally had conversations with members of the law firm of Justin Trudeau or the minister of Finance, Bill Morneau, before the agreement is approved by the ministers.
According to her, it is a high-ranking official of the ministry of Employment and social Development, which has supported, in writing, that the non-profit organization (U.S.) (“WE Charity”, in English) was the only organization in the country that could distribute scholarships totaling $ 912 million $.
STATES could receive up to 43,53 million $ of this contract without a call for proposals to administer the program, if he had been able to get up to 40 000 scholarships, double the 20 000 initially foreseen in the program, said the minister.
Mrs Chagger, however, has been less clear on other aspects of the application, including the number of positions that the program was supposed to create for the students, or who, within his cabinet, had spoken of the sole-source contract with members of the bodyguard of the prime minister.
Mrs Chagger and senior officials are the first witnesses to appear before this committee on Commons; it is the first parliamentary inquiry into the way in which USA was selected to administer the new canadian stock Exchange for the volunteer student.
The chronology of events as presented to the standing Committee on finance begins in mid-April, when the united STATES sends an unsolicited proposal for a programme for the youth to Mrs Chagger and the minister of the Little Company Mary Ng.
Various federal officials were already discussing the measures to be adopted to help students who could not find a summer job because of the COVID-19. They had the intention to launch in mid-may a program.
It is in this context that officials of the ministry of Finance were mentioned by STATES in conversations with their counterparts in the Employment and social Development Canada, who oversee the programmes related to students.nt
Rachel Wernick, a senior official of EDSC, has told, that it was proposed to call the organization in order to explore the possible options because of the past collaboration of STATES with the department.
She was said to have called one of the co-founders of the united STATES, Craig Kielburger on 19 April, the date on which it has had knowledge of the original proposal.
United STATES has qualified the proposal of a “distinct and clearly without the report” with the one that the liberals have revealed in their statement.
Three days later, on 22 April, Mr Trudeau has announced an aid of $ 9 billion for students and graduates affected by the COVID-19.
This announcement included the outline of a volunteer program, paying students up to $ 5,000 for tuition fees, depending on the number of volunteer hours.
United STATES has declared that the government had joined the organization to develop a new proposal that “if enlignait with its program of” volunteering”, without specifying who joined the organization or when.
Ms. Wernick has reported that Mr. Kielburger had sent him by e-mail an updated proposal based on the prime minister’s announcement on 22 April. Gold in a video conversation recorded on June 12, a copy of which was obtained by The Canadian Press, another co-founder, STATES Marc Kielburger said not to have been informed by the office of the prime minister on 23 April.
In a press release published last month, Marc Kielburger said to have been brought in contact during the week of April 26, with a head of ESSC, and not with the cabinet.
Immersed in the controversy, the organization finally abandoned the contract two weeks ago. The officials have taken the relay, but have a hard time to control the details of the program, and the summer ahead.
The Scholarship is intended to help students who cannot find summer work because of the COVID-19, and who wish to volunteer.
The federal commissioner, the ethics announced Thursday that it will incorporate Mr. Morneau, in his investigation on the role of prime minister in this matter. Mr. Trudeau, his brother and his mother all have links with the organization STATES, co-founded by brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger. One of the daughters of Mr. Morneau is an employee of the organization.
Mr. Trudeau admitted last week that he would have had to withdraw from the discussion on the awarding of the contract, given the links of his family with US.
The spokesperson for the conservative in the field of ethics, Michael Barrett, believes that there should be a criminal investigation into the awarding of the contract, despite the enlargement of the investigation of the ethics commissioner.
The average duration of an investigation of the ethics commissioner is of seven months.
