Study of Trudeau speaking contracts shut down

The House of Commons ethics committee has voted against a motion to study Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau’s speaking contracts since he was elected to Parliament.

It was the committee's second attempt at such a probe.

A similar motion aiming to acquire WE Charity speaking contracts involving Trudeau and his wife didn't pass last week after Bloc Québécois MP Julie Vignola joined Liberals in voting against it — by accident, the Bloc said at the time.

Bloc MP Marie-Hélène Gaudreau proposed the new motion Monday saying the committee should examine the measures in place to avert conflicts of interest.

This time NDP MP Charlie Angus abstained, and the new motion failed also by one vote.

The committee is still debating a third motion, this one from Angus, to study possible conflicts of interest and lobbying violations in relation to pandemic spending and the deal with WE Charity to administer a student volunteering program worth hundreds of millions of dollars.