Ethics Commissioner’s Clearing of Trudeau in WE Charity Scandal Challenged in Appeals Court

WE Charity co-founders Craig (L) and Marc (R) Kielburger introduce Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau as they appear at the WE Day celebrations in Ottawa on Nov. 10, 2015. Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

A democratic non-profit advocacy group is appealing a court ruling that found Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not breach conflict of interest rules for his alleged role in the WE Charity scandal.

Democracy Watch is challenging the 2021 ruling by former Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion before the Federal Court of Appeal.

In a press release, Democracy Watch said it is arguing that Mr. Trudeau was guilty of violating federal ethics laws and that he directly participated in grant approval for the charity, according to a press release. The group said Mr. Trudeau was friends with the two Kielburger brothers who ran the charity and noted the family of the prime minister also had close ties with the group.

The appeals court heard the arguments on March 25 as the parties debated two points: whether the court had jurisdiction over the issue and if any errors made by the ethics commissioner could be challenged in court. The hearing will determine if Democracy Watch will be able to challenge the alleged errors made by the commissioner, the group said, noting that approval of the case would set a new legal precedent.

Ottawa’s relationship with WE Charity came under scrutiny in 2020 following allegations that the federal contract it received was awarded because of the Trudeau family’s close relationship with the organization. The charity was to administer the Canada Student Service Grant, a $912-million program promised by the prime minister as part of $9 billion in COVID-19 financial aid for post-secondary students.

Democracy Watch maintains the ethics commissioner made four main errors in his 2021 ruling, including a failure to rule that Mr. Trudeau had a genuine conflict of interest, noting his family ties to the charity, which included his now ex-wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau acting as an ambassador for WE Charity.

Other members of Mr. Trudeau’s family have also been linked with WE Charity. His mother Margaret and brother Alexandre were reportedly paid as much as $300,000 by the charity, and other groups linked to it, for speaking engagements over a four-year period.

Democracy Watch said the commissioner failed to rule that Mr. Trudeau had a conflict of interest as laid out by the Conflict of Interest Act. The group also accused former Commissioner Dion of failing to note that Mr. Trudeau and the two Kielburger brothers had all publicly stated they were friends.

The advocacy group said Mr. Dion ignored section 4 of the Conflict of Interest Act by failing to find that the prime minister had acted improperly. Democracy Watch highlighted a July 2020 report in which Mr. Trudeau apologized for not recusing himself from contract discussions with WE Charity.

“Democracy Watch is challenging [Mr. Dion’s] ruling in court because it sets a very bad precedent that will allow politicians and government officials to take part in future decisions to hand out money to individuals and organizations that have close relations with their families,” Democracy Watch co-founder Duff Conacher said in the release.