19.29°C Vancouver 19.29°C Vancouver
Aug 19, 2020 3:45 PM -
Thousands of pages of newly released documents back up the Trudeau government's contention that it was federal public servants who recommended a student service grant program be administered by WE Charity.
They also suggest bureaucrats may have been nudged to look in that direction by their political masters.
The five-thousand-plus pages of government documents were tabled with the finance committee almost two weeks ago.
They had not been released to committee members because legal counsel was still vetting them to ensure there were no breaches of cabinet confidences or personal privacy.
The documents were released late Tuesday afternoon to members of the House of Commons finance committee, on the orders of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as he announced he was proroguing Parliament until September 23rd.
In deciding to hand them over directly to committee members, Trudeau may have hoped to get any controversy associated with them out of the way well before Parliament reopens on what he hopes will be a more positive note.
The prime minister is promising a throne speech designed to launch the country on the road to economic recovery after the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The controversy over the now-abandoned student service grant program has spawned investigations by the federal ethics watchdog into possible conflict of interest on the part of Trudeau and his former finance minister, Bill Morneau, who also has close family ties to WE Charity.
