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標題: [加拿大新聞] Morneau says he repaid WE Charity $41K for costs of two trips in 2017 [打印本頁]

作者: Quest 時間: 2020-7-22 20:21 標題: Morneau says he repaid WE Charity $41K for costs of two trips in 2017

Morneau says he repaid WE Charity $41K for costs of two trips his family took in 2017 By Jolson Lim. Published on Jul 22, 2020 3:52pm

Minister of Finance Bill Morneau and Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz give an update on financial measures to help Canadians with the effects of COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa on Mar. 18, 2020. Andrew Meade/iPolitics
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Finance Minister Bill Morneau says he wrote a cheque today worth more than $41,000 to WE Charity to cover unpaid expenses for two trips he and his family took with the organization.
Morneau revealed to the House of Commons finance committee on Wednesday that he, his wife and daughter took trips to Kenya and Ecuador in 2017 to participate in WE Charity’s humanitarian work.
He said he wrote a check worth $41,366 on Wednesday to reimburse the portion of expenses covered by WE Charity during the trip — costs he claimed he was not aware about until this week.
LIVE BLOG: House sits for third time this week as Morneau appears before finance committee
“I expected and always had intended to pay the full cost of these trips, and it was my responsibility to make sure that was done,” Morneau told MPs. “Not doing so, even unknowingly, it’s not appropriate. I want to apologize for this error on my part.”
Morneau said after his family was unable to locate receipts for costs related to WE programming during the trip, his office reached out to the WE organization Tuesday for the full cost. He said receipts his family did find showed they had covered some of the two trips’ costs: $52,000 in flight and hotel expenses.
The revelation sparked criticism from opposition MPs on the committee that he accepted “illegal” expenses and violated conflict of interest laws. Conservative finance critic Pierre Poilievre called for Morneau to resign while his colleague Michael Cooper put forward a notice for the committee on a motion recommending Morneau do just that.
“You didn’t know about a $41,000 expense? How is that even possible?” Poilievre said to Morneau.
During the meeting, opposition MPs cited Section 11 of the Conflict of Interest Act, which reads that no public officer holder or family member “shall accept any gift or other advantage, including from a trust, that might reasonably be seen to have been given to influence the public office holder in the exercise of an official power, duty or function.”
The WE Charity controversy, which centered on Morneau Wednesday, stems from his government’s decision to tap the organization to administer the $900 million Canada Student Service Grant (CSSG) despite ties between the charity and senior figures in the Liberal government. WE Charity, which was set to receive up to $43.5 million for the job, announced its departure from task on July 3 amid growing public scrutiny and criticism.
Morneau, along with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, is already under investigation by Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion for possible breaches of conflict of interest laws.
Earlier this month, Canadaland and other news publications reported on ties between Morneau’s family and the WE organization; one of his daughters had spoken at a WE Day event when she was 17 years old and had a blurb in a book she authored written by Marc Kielburger, while another daughter is a current employee of WE Charity.
Morneau apologized last week for not recusing himself from cabinet discussions on the agreement with WE to administer the CSSG.
On Wednesday, he also revealed to MPs that his wife, Nancy McCain, donated $50,000 on two different occasions to WE Charity. Once was in April 2018 for its work for students in Canada, while the second time was in June 2020 to support COVID-19 relief in Kenya and Canada.
READ MORE: Public service, cabinet didn’t flag any conflict of interest issues with WE Charity-run program: PCO clerk
In a statement Wednesday evening, WE Charity said it invited Morneau and McCain on these trips, “because they are well-known philanthropists with a history of significant donations to international development programs.”
The organization said it invited the family to see see the impact of its development projects and assist in building a local school. The family stayed in WE accommodation at the project site. It said their projects are often located in “very rural regions of developing countries, and there are limited to no alternative accommodation options.”
WE Charity said the family reached out to the organization to ask if the trip had been complimentary. “We confirmed that it was. They then reimbursed WE Charity for what they would have been charged if they had paid at the time: USD $ 4,395 per person.”
Morneau, who has been finance minister since November 2015, said he and his family were in Kenya to view construction of schools by the organization and in Ecuador to take part in the building of one. He said the unpaid costs were related to “anything occurred at the WE facilities,” which may include travel to get to the schools, the material for construction and for meals and other accommodation.
The finance minister also offered a timeline Wednesday on the development of the CSSG.
It includes speaking to WE Charity co-founder Craig Kielburger on April 26, five days after he said he had “verbally approved” departmental recommendations on the broad structure of the CSSG including involvement of a third party and four days after Trudeau announced the program to Canadians.
“I know that we would have broadly discussed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. He did not raise the Canada Student Service Grant, nor did I,” Morneau said.
He also said his office had discussions with WE Charity “on the different types of student programming could be administered” around the time of the public announcement.
It has since been reported that WE Charity sent the government two proposals around a government student-focused program ahead of its selection as program administrator. It includes a second proposal sent specifically to Morneau’s office on April 21, the Globe and Mail reported Tuesday.
The first proposal had been included in an April 18 briefing with officials on the student grant program, where officials raised the idea of a partnership with non-governmental entities for the CSSG, including WE Charity as a possible partner.
A final proposal on the CSSG was presented to the full cabinet on May 22, with Morneau present. He later approved a final revised funding decision for the program on June 3.
Trudeau is set to testify at the finance committee at a date and time to be determined.

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