WE Charity 'Winding Down' Operations In Canada After Scandal Involving Trudeau - Statement

TORONTO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th September, 2020) The We Charity - an organization at the heart of the scandal that has plagued the government of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau - said in a statement that it winding down its operations in Canada.

Trudeau and current and former members of his cabinet incurred heavy criticism after media revealed close ties between the officials' families and the WE Charity. The government had awarded a $670-million sole-source contract to administer a government-sponsored student volunteer program.

"It is with great sadness that WE Charity and its board of Directors announce they are winding down the organization's operations in Canada. The organization will be selling its assets to establish an endowment fund to sustain the charity's existing international humanitarian programs and digitize its Canadian educational resources for long-term access," the statement said on Wednesday.

The restructuring comes as a result of disruptions, including a loss of sponsors, caused by political battles and misinformation that a charity is ill-equipped to fight as well as the strict novel coronavirus-instituted measures in Canada, the statement said.

WE Charity explained that it intends to terminate staff and sell its property in Canada as part of efforts to establish an endowment fund to support other projects worldwide.

At the request of WE Charity's Board of Directors, founders Craig and Marc Kleinberg will also leave the organization upon the cessation of activities in Canada.

Earlier this summer, the independent media outlet Canadaland revealed that Trudeau's mother, Margaret Trudeau, and brother, Alexandre Trudeau, were paid a combined sum of $258,000 for speaking engagements at WE Charity events. Trudeau's wife Sophie has also participated in a number of WE Charity events around the world and was paid $1,036 for one event in 2012.

The Kielburger brothers told a parliamentary committee earlier this summer that members of the Trudeau family received upwards of $380,000 in speaking fees, travel expenses and other reimbursements over several years.

Former Finance Minister Bill Morneau, who faced mounting backlash following his admissions that he accepted expense paid trips and that both of his daughters have relationships with the charity, had previously resigned.

There are currently multiple ongoing investigations of Trudeau and his government. Trudeau is also subject of a conflict of interest probe by the Canada's Ethics Commissioner into his relationship with the WE Charity - the third during his five years in office.

Concurrently, there are a number of parliamentary investigations concerning the awarding of the multi-billion-dollar government ward to the WE Charity that have been halted after Trudeau shut down Parliament until the end of September.