Evidence of meeting #41 for Finance in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was volunteer.
A video is available from Parliament.
3:40 p.m.
Liberal
3:40 p.m.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
You failed, Minister. You failed them. You were not aware of their family links and you brought this. This is astounding. We now have a serious scandal, and it happened on your watch.
The Prime Minister said that it was raised, when he spoke about recusing. Were you the one? You had the responsibility. Did you say, “Hey, Mr. Prime Minister, your family has links here”? Were you the one to call the Prime Minister to get recused?
3:40 p.m.
Liberal
Bardish Chagger Liberal Waterloo, ON
The Prime Minister has acknowledged that he should have recused himself. He has apologized, because what has been left is that students do not have service opportunities right now, and not-for-profits are not able to have the assets they're looking for. We continue to stay focused on delivering this program.
When it comes to the investigations by the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, we have stated that we will comply with any information he requires.
3:40 p.m.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
I'm glad you're going to comply.
Now, you said you asked a lot of tough questions, and I find that surprising based on your last answer. The Prime Minister's wife is an ambassador for WE. After Justin Trudeau became Prime Minister, his mother was hired by WE, as was his brother. There was a clear financial link, but their relationship was evident.
In the due diligence, did anyone in your department raise a red flag that this was going to be a problem? Was this raised as an issue?
3:40 p.m.
Liberal
Bardish Chagger Liberal Waterloo, ON
I believe, Mr. Chair, the department can speak for themselves. Obviously, there are tough conversations—
3:40 p.m.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
No, I'm asking you. You're responsible for this. Don't throw your staff under the bus.
3:40 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
Mr. Angus, the minister has the floor to answer the question.
Go ahead, Minister, with your answer.
3:40 p.m.
Liberal
Bardish Chagger Liberal Waterloo, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Of course we have tough conversations around the cabinet table. We have tough conversations around our teams. Yes, these questions were posed. Our focus was on delivering a program for students to be able to volunteer and provide service opportunities in communities and link them with not-for-profits that were looking for much-needed support.
3:40 p.m.
Liberal
Bardish Chagger Liberal Waterloo, ON
Therefore, that was my focus. Yes, I asked tough questions of the public service. When we made this decision—
3:40 p.m.
Liberal
Bardish Chagger Liberal Waterloo, ON
—and the public service recommended that it was the only organization that would be able to deliver this program—
3:45 p.m.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Thank you.
I think I heard you say that it was raised that it was a problem his family was so closely tied. Someone raised it, yet you failed to bring this to cabinet and this thing blew up in your government's face.
My question is this: You mentioned originally $19.5 million, and now it's about $43 million. This is a very complex process. For each placement, what was the figure that we would get? Like an overhead....
3:45 p.m.
Liberal
Bardish Chagger Liberal Waterloo, ON
Contribution agreements as they are written are, as you know, disclosed publicly and quarterly, so it will become available. The contribution agreement for the initial cohort was $19.5 million, which was for—
3:45 p.m.
NDP
3:45 p.m.
Liberal