Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not breach the Conflict of Interest Act over failing to recuse himself from a cabinet decision to have WE Charity operate a since-cancelled federal student-volunteer program, Canada's ethics watchdog said Thursday.
In a separate report, federal ethics commissioner Mario Dion found that former finance minister Bill Morneau did violate the rules and should have recused himself. He says Morneau "gave WE preferential treatment by permitting his ministerial staff to disproportionately assist it when it sought federal funding." "I believe this unfettered access to the Office of the Minister of Finance was based on the identity of WE's representative, Mr. Craig Kielburger," Dion wrote.
My statement on the Ethics Commissioners report // Ma déclaration sur le rapport du Commissaire à l’éthique pic.twitter.com/rksUf7Go3T
— Bill Morneau (@Bill_Morneau) May 13, 2021
The commissioner says he was asked to investigate Morneau by several MPs because of what some believed to be close ties between his family and the charity, founded by brothers Marc and Craig Kielburger. He found Craig Kielburger fell under his office's definition of a friend to Morneau, which meant the former minister should have known it created the potential for conflict.
Dion says during Morneau's participation in discussions around the student-volunteer program he "placed himself in a conflict of interest on several occasions." "When Mr. Morneau was advised that WE would likely play an important role in the student relief initiative, he should have recused himself from those discussions." "I found that Mr. Morneau had the opportunity to improperly further WE's private interests." On Thursday, Morneau, who resigned as finance minister and a Liberal MP in August 2020, issued a statement to note the report says it was the public service that decided WE Charity should administer the program. "As I have already stated, in retrospect, I should have recused myself from the discussion," Morneau wrote in a statement shared on Twitter.
Last fall, Dion cleared Morneau of failing to disclose a gift from the charity. He accepted the former minister "genuinely believed" he had paid for two trips his family took in 2017 to visit WE's humanitarian projects in Ecuador and Kenya, saying Morneau reimbursed it $41,000 after learning the charity had covered his expenses.
Last summer, Trudeau also apologized for not recusing himself from talks around the program given that he and his relatives had taken part in eight WE events, with his brother and mother being paid for their involvement.
