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His administration awarded a contract to an NGO that hired his mother, brother, and wife.
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Thursday denied before a parliamentary committee playing any role in picking a charity with ties to his family to manage a major public program.
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He was questioned by opposition MPs about his government's decision to award a billionaire contract to the "WE Charity", which has ties to the ruling Liberal Party and hired his mother, brother, and wife.
Trudeau acknowledged that he should have refused the decision to award the NGO the contract for the management of a program of US$670 million.
"WE Charity received no preferential treatment, not from me, not from anyone else," he said and added that "the public service recommended WE Charity and I did absolutely nothing to influence that recommendation."
They didn't only pay the Trudeaus, whether you could prove the others were 'Liberals' is debatable, but here it's the conflict of interest which is important, so the responsibility lies with Trudeau that his family got paid, or to make sure they didn't #WEScandal #cdnpoli
— ���� Dr Gill Leighton ���� (@DrGillLeighton) July 29, 2020
Opposition parties quickly highlighted possible contradictions between Trudeau's words and the testimony of his chief of staff, Katie Telford, who also appeared before the committee.
Polls indicate that the WE Charity scandal is affecting citizen support for Trudeau. This is something that Trudeau and the Liberals cannot afford after having lost the 2019 federal election.
Political analysts warn that if the lack of support for Trudeau and the Liberals continues as a consequence of the WE Charity scandal, opposition parties will have a boost.
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