Trudeau’s cabinet ministers will not say if they had any knowledge of the connection between the Trudeau family and the WE charity.
The Globe and Mail reached out to all members of Trudeau’s cabinet. Each of them were asked if they had known members of the Trudeau family received money from WE Charity when they decided to give the organization a $912 million contract to administer the Canada Student Service Grant program.
Only three ministers responded to the Globe’s question.
A spokesman for Transportation Minister Marc Garneau said that he had not been aware members of Trudeau’s family received money for speaking at WE Charity events.
The spokespeople for Labour Minister Filomena Tassi and Middle-Class Prosperity Minister Mona Fortier both said the ministers cannot comment due to cabinet confidentiality.
On Thursday, Canadaland reported that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s mother and brother had been paid by WE and its network for speaking events.
Margaret Trudeau has received a total of $312,000 and Alexandre Trudeau has received $40,000 since 2016.
On Friday, it was revealed that Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s daughter is a current employee of WE.
WE co-founder Marc Kielburger has said that the Prime Minister’s Office had personally reached out to offer WE Charity the contract, a claim that Trudeau disputes.
Trudeau claims that the Department of Employment and Social Development was involved in selecting WE Charity for the contract. Employment and Social Development Minister Carla Qualtrough did not respond to the Globe’s questions.
On Thursday the Government Operations committee voted unanimously to open an investigation into the Trudeau government’s relationship with WE Charity.
The committee also voted to summon Ministers Carla Qualtrough, Jean-Yves Duclos, Anita Anand and Bardish Chagger for questioning.
WE Charity withdrew from the contract with the government last week after the deal was met with public outrage.
