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Jul 28, 2020 2:50 PM -

WE co-founders testify before a House of Commons committee

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A crowd gathers before the WE Day red carpet in Toronto, on Thursday, September 20, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

The co-founders of WE Charity testified before a House of Commons committee today as part of a parliamentary probe into a $912-million student-volunteer program.

WE Charity co-founders Craig and Marc Kielburger say their organization was not tapped to run Ottawa's student-volunteer program because of any close ties to Liberal cabinet ministers.

The brothers told a Parliamentary committee they regret not realizing how the deal would be perceived and that they would never have gotten involved if they had known it could jeopardize the work WE has done over 25 years.

WE Charity backed out of administering the program early this month as a controversy erupted over the government's decision to award it a sole-sourced contract, despite its close ties to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

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