Tories to seek Trudeau family's speaking records as another WE probe begins

Another House of Commons committee is to begin probing the aborted deal between the federal government and WE Charity to run a massive student-volunteering program.

WE gave up running the $912-million program amid controversy over hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees the WE organization paid to members of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's family for appearances at WE events.

Conservatives on the Commons ethics committee say they'll be seeking copies of all records related to any speaking appearances involving Trudeau, his wife, his mother and his brother.

According to WE, most of the fees went to Trudeau's mother Margaret, a mental-health advocate, for events between 2016 and 2020, and Justin Trudeau has never been paid anything.

Yesterday, the Commons finance committee heard from Youth Minister Bardish Chagger and senior public servants about how the arrangement with WE came together after Trudeau announced plans in April for a volunteering program for students who couldn't find work this summer because of COVID-19.

That committee heard WE pitched the government on a different but related project days before the announcement, and officials saw the group's connections with young people as vital to making the government's program work.