Finance committee  As I indicated, Chair, no financial flags were raised through this process about the WE Charity. To the best of my knowledge, officials did not engage in detailed scrutiny of the financial affairs of the organization. I stand to be corrected by subsequent testimony, but to the be

Finance committee  The Prime Minister's chief of staff, given the scale of the program, did make the point, which was accepted by everyone, that due diligence and care needed to be exercised with regard to WE Charity. Ms. Telford was not referring to the financial integrity of the organization. Tho

Finance committee  Personally, Chair, I'd have to say for the committee that it was not during that time at all that I personally was aware of the proposal from WE Charity. Colleagues were, so I will answer the question in the context of the Privy Council Office as a whole, if that is acceptable to

Finance committee  Okay. There was an earlier proposal, I understand, which came in early April, if I remember correctly. It related to an idea, a program, that in the end was not funded.

Finance committee  There were two cabinet discussions, one by the COVID committee and then ratification at cabinet near the end of May. We were not aware of any connection of the finance minister. The Prime Minister's involvement with the charity over a long period of time, of course, was in the p

Finance committee  Within the bounds of my responsibility, Chair, of course I will co-operate with the Ethics Commissioner, as I would assert I did a year ago in relation to the previous issue. The committee will recall that the government itself had given a waiver of many of the cabinet confidenc

Finance committee  I do know that early in the development of policy, meetings were held with a range of non-profit organizations, voluntary organizations, and so on. WE Charity was one of those consulted. We can provide you with the full list of organizations that were consulted. I would say, at

Finance committee  The convention is that the secretary to the cabinet has the authority to waive cabinet confidences. There's jurisprudence on this. As was clear from the SNC-Lavalin case, the Prime Minister himself, of course, can opt to waive cabinet confidence, but traditionally that duty falls

Finance committee  I did not.

Finance committee  I see no reason we would not support the committee that way.

Finance committee  If she were promoted to a Governor in Council position, that would be the case, but I can tell you that a public servant moving to another job within the public service not involving a Governor in Council appointment is often treated as a promotion, so not necessarily.

Finance committee  That is an entirely reasonable line of inquiry, of course. What I have said to the committee is that, to the best of my knowledge, those issues were not raised. What I have also said, and I repeat, is that the focus with respect to this contribution agreement had to do with the c

Finance committee  No, he did not. The initial announcement explicitly, if I remember correctly, included the Prime Minister indicating that further details would follow, that there would have to be further development of the program. This was the announcement by the Prime Minister that many of the

Finance committee  My understanding...and I want to underline to the committee, Chair, that I am not the file expert, and one of my many flaws is a non-encyclopedic memory. But my understanding is that this was intended to help provide for the needs of students who, because of the inability to have

Finance committee  Well, I stand to be corrected by officials in the relevant departments, but that is my understanding. You're correct.