Justin Trudeau’s finance minister acknowledged he accepted tens of thousands of dollars in travel expenses from the charity embroiled in a scandal over a student grants contract, fanning the controversy.
Bill Morneau, facing questions from lawmakers studying the issue in Ottawa, apologized Wednesday for not repaying more than C$41,000 ($31,000) to the WE Charity until now.
“This was a mistake on my behalf,” Morneau said. “It is my mistake. It is a mistake that I regret. I apologize for that.”
The finance minister said the C$41,366 in expenses were incurred when his family traveled to Kenya and Ecuador in 2017 with the non-profit group. Morneau also said his family made two C$50,000 donations to WE, one in April 2018 to support work for students in Canada and a second last month for Covid-19 relief efforts in Kenya.
Morneau said he wasn’t aware he had incurred the expenses at the time, and only realized the “error” after a recent review of the trips.
Along with Trudeau, Morneau is also under investigation by Canada’s ethics watchdog for possible conflict of interest over the decision to award a contract worth up C$43.5 million to WE for the administration of a C$900 million student grant program. Two of the finance minister’s daughters have ties to the group, including one who currently works for the organization.
{{/usCountry}}Along with Trudeau, Morneau is also under investigation by Canada’s ethics watchdog for possible conflict of interest over the decision to award a contract worth up C$43.5 million to WE for the administration of a C$900 million student grant program. Two of the finance minister’s daughters have ties to the group, including one who currently works for the organization.
{{/usCountry}}Separately Wednesday, the prime minister’s office said Trudeau has accepted an invitation to testify before the finance committee on the issue.