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Conservatives ask ethics commissioner to investigate Margaret Trudeau's speaking appearance

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The Conservative Party is calling on Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion to investigate whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau violated the Conflict of Interest Act after his mother spoke at an event organized by a group that has received federal funding.

In the letter obtained by CTV News, Conservative MP Michael Barrett references a CTV News exclusive report that details how Margaret Trudeau spoke at Elevate.ca’s Think 2030 series on Oct. 14 to address the mental health impacts of the pandemic.

Barrett suggests that the appearance raises questions about Section 6 (1) and Section 7 of the Conflict of Interest Act regarding whether the prime minister has advanced his mothers’ private interests by directing money to the organization.

Elevate, a Toronto-based not-for-profit, has received $5.8 million from the federal government to help job seekers from under-represented communities. When previously asked by CTV News, the organization would not say how much, if anything, it paid Margaret Trudeau to participate in the symposium, but denied there was a relationship between the event and the government funding.

“Elevate did not receive any federal funding whatsoever for its event Think 2030,” Elevate general manager Lisa Zarzeczny said in an email.

Barrett’s letter to the ethics commissioner also states that this is not the first time questions have been raised about the speaking engagements of Trudeau’s family.

“Mr. Trudeau’s failures in the past to respect Canada’s Ethics Laws make it particularly important that scrutiny is applied to any and all potential conflicts of interest,” Barrett’s letter reads.

Past payments to Margaret Trudeau and other Trudeau family members by WE Charity were the subject of an investigation by the ethics commissioner, who found that, in the circumstances of that case, there was no contravention of the Conflict of Interest Act.

Margaret Trudeau has declined to comment, and the Prime Minister’s Office has said the funding was for a program that “aims to reskill 5,300 job seekers from underrepresented communities, including Black, Indigenous, People of Colour, 2SLGBTQ+, and francophone professionals in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area and match them with job openings in technology and innovation-based organizations, start-ups and the creative industries.”

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