By Elishya Perera
TORONTO (CWBN)_ Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s minority government survived a confidence vote by securing the backing from the New Democrats, Green and Independent MPs.
The final vote result – 146 in favour and 180 against – defeated the Conservative motion to create a special anti-corruption committee that would have probed into alleged Liberal corruption, including the WE Charity controversy, and other potential conflicts of interest.
However, the opposition MPs made it clear that they voted against the motion strictly to avoid plunging the country into an election in the midst of a deadly second wave of COVID-19, since the Liberals declared the motion as a matter of confidence, and therefore, it could have triggered a call for elections if it had been successful.
“New Democrats will not give Prime Minister Trudeau the election he is looking for,” NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh told reporters before the vote. “We’re not going to be used as an excuse or a cover. We’re going to continue to do the work that we need to do”.
At the heart of the motion introduced by the Conservatives are disputes on a number of spending decisions, including a US$686 million student-grant contract to a charity with ties to the prime minister’s family.
The Canadian Government had assigned WE Charity Canada to administer a programme designed to connect post-secondary students to volunteer opportunities for which they would later receive a grant to make up for summer job prospects that had disappeared owing to the pandemic.
The Prime Minister and his wife made regular appearances at various WE events, and later it was revealed that certain expenses related to the events were reimbursed to Trudeau family members, and that the Prime Minister’s mother and brother had also been paid for speaking at various WE events over the years.
On the other hand, Former Federal Finance Minister, Bill Morneau’s family also had ties to WE Charity, as one of his daughters is employed by the Charity. Moreover, Morneau’s family had also taken two humanitarian trips to Kenya and Ecuador to see WE Charity’s activity overseas, following which he had reimbursed the organisation for the relevant expenses. However, he resigned in August from his position as Finance Minister and as a Member of Parliament, amid pressure from opposition parties over the matter.
Trudeau and Morneau have been criticised for not recusing themselves from Cabinet discussions related to the decision to grant WE the contract, however, the Prime Minister denies any involvement by him or his staff in the programme in pushing for WE to be brought on board. “WE Charity received no preferential treatment not from me, not from anyone else,” he said.
Trudeau’s government had argued the proposed committee would paralyze his government’s ability to respond to the crisis. “Nobody wants elections. People want to continue to have their government focused on helping them in their jobs, helping them in this health crisis and that’s what we will continue to concentrate on,” the Prime Minister said.
Edited By Chathushka Perera
