OTTAWA -- Thousands of documents detailing the creation and implementation of the Canada Student Service Grant (CSSG) program have been made public after being requested by the House finance committee studying the WE Charity controversy.
The documents include memos, proposals, budgets and handwritten notes. Some of the materials have been redacted, which the Conservatives underlined Wednesday to further back up their claim that the Liberals are involved in a cover-up.
For the most part, the documents show – as the Liberals have argued – that it was the public service that recommended WE’s involvement but it is the timeline of events and how close conversations about WE Charity were to the higher-ups of government that raises red flags about who knew what, and when.
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"This page, blacked out, this page blacked out, this page blacked out. Why don’t we ask what’s in those pages at a parliamentary committee? Well I’ll tell you why. Justin Trudeau shut down those parliamentary committees," said Tory finance critic Pierre Poilievre on Wednesday during a press briefing in Ottawa, responding to the prime minister’s announcement that he would prorogue Parliament until September 23.
"Ladies and gentlemen this is a coverup. Conservatives will not relent, we will continue to fight to get to the truth."
So what was revealed in the stack of files?
CHAGGER’S EARLY COMMUNICATION WITH WE
The earliest whispers of the student grant program stemmed from Youth Minister Bardish Chagger’s office, when Craig Kielburger reached out to her team to pitch a social entrepreneurship program in early April. Chagger and Kielburger then spoke over the phone on April 17 about the proposal, but the minister assured during her testimony at the finance committee that there was no mention of the government initiative.
The documents cast doubt in her claim, as five days later, WE came back to her office, reshaping their original proposal to reflect her "ministry’s mandate."
The same day, the documents show Rachel Wernick, a senior assistant deputy minister at Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) responded to Kielburger saying she was "interested to review this revised proposal that integrates your original entrepreneurship program with a service program."
As NDP ethics critic Charlie Angus told CTV News Channel on Wednesday, it was that meeting that "set the stage" for what became the now-halted CSSG program.
"From that point on, it is the Kielburgers and the senior government staffers working together to create a program, so when they say that only WE could have delivered it, yeah, of course, because only WE was at the table," said Angus.
For weeks after, staff at WE Charity and ESDC continued their back-and-forth communication, as the organization made revisions to their proposal to fit the government’s objectives.
Concerns around staffing requirements and program reach, and questions about how to retain applicant diversity, how to frame the reimbursement provision to youth, and why the government isn’t capable of implementing the program are all documented in various meeting notes.
WE Charity staff at one point emailed Wernick’s office, reassuring her that despite employee layoffs due to the pandemic, the group is still capable of running the program.
WE CHATS WITH "BESTIES" at FINANCE
In an email on May 7, Michelle Kovacevic, an assistant deputy minister at finance, told Wernick that WE would be connecting directly with her minister’s staff as they are "besties."
Former finance minister Bill Morneau’s daughter works at WE, and his family has donated to the organization and accepted free travel that they just recently paid off.
Morneau testified that he spoke with Craig Kielburger on April 26, but the CSSG wasn’t discussed. He later apologized for not recusing himself from cabinet discussions about the contract.
There was obvious confusion and frustration among ESDC staff during an email exchange on April 17, when a proposal for a volunteering initiative was shared with finance without Chagger’s sign-off.
EXTENT OF PMO INVOLVEMENT
Trudeau said he first found out about WE Charity’s involvement in rolling out the program on May 8, which the Conservatives claim is either "corruption or ignorance" given what his inner circle and key cabinet ministers were aware of at that time.
Trudeau's mother, Margaret Trudeau, spoke at approximately 28 events and was paid $250,000 in speaking honorariums between 2016 and 2020. His brother, Alexandre Trudeau, also spoke at eight events from 2017 to 2018 and was paid approximately $32,000.
In addition to this, Trudeau's wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, received a "one-time speaking honorarium" of $1,400 for participating in a youth event in 2012 before Trudeau became leader of the Liberal Party. She hosts a wellness podcast under the WE name.
The pile of documents puts into question the prime minister’s May 8 timeline.
In an email from Kovacevic to members of the Privy Council Office (PCO) as early as April 20, she said the prime minister’s office was "weighing in" on a version of the CSSG, calling it a bit of a "sh** show."
Deputy minister of intergovernmental affairs and youth at the PCO Christiane Fox said in a separate email sent the same day that she understands many departments are in talks with WE Charity regarding their social innovation pitch, including the Prime Minister’s Office and deputy prime minister’s office.
A few months down the line, when the program was approved, Craig Kielburger sent a LinkedIn message to one of Trudeau’s top advisers, Ben Chin, thanking him for his "kindness" for helping to shape the CSSG.
Handwritten notes from meetings about the program in April also included members from the Prime Minister’s Office.
With a file from CTV News’ Rachel Aiello
CTV News has redacted the email addresses shown in the images above.
