OTTAWA -- A special summer question period session got off to an acrimonious start with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and outgoing Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer engaging in a fiery back and forth over the ongoing WE Charity volunteer grant controversy on Tuesday.
With Trudeau in the House of Commons to face opposition questioning over the affair for the first time since it was revealed that members of his family were paid a total of nearly $300,000 over the last four years to speak at WE Charity events, he faced a barrage of inquiries into his role in deciding to outsource the now-halted government grant program to the organization.
āWill the Prime Minister do the right thing, show up and testify at committee?ā asked Scheer.
In response Trudeau began speaking about the āunprecedentedā COVID-19 pandemic and the various aid programs and social supports his government has rolled out. He didnāt confirm whether or not heād take MPs up on their invitation for him to appear and speak about his role in awarding WE Charity the contract to administer a $912-million student volunteer program.
Scheer volleyed back: āItās so gross and disgusting that this prime minister keeps using the pandemic as an excuse for his corruptionā¦ I donāt even have a question Mr. Speaker, it is just disgusting.ā
Trudeau then said that, given the topic of the day was passing billions more in updated COVID-19 aid programs, he thought āthat there might be a question from the opposition on that.ā
The questioning continued, with Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh asking Trudeau for more information about his governmentās actions in relation to the sole-sourced agreement with WE Charity.
Conservative MPs then used their question slots to ask individual cabinet ministers whether they still supported Trudeau, and each time Youth Minister Bardish Chagger responded.
Trudeau said he plans to be in the House of Commons again on Wednesday to face more questions in the unfolding controversy.
Outside of the Chamber, a study at the House Finance Committee is continuing, with several big-name witnesses set to testify in the coming days, and possibly new probes to come.
As well, Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion is working on investigations into Trudeau and Finance Minister Bill Morneau to assess whether they broke federal conflict of interest laws by not leaving the room when the WE Charity deal was being discussed, given they both have close personal connections to the organization.
