WE scandal: Probe continues as WE Charity founders, former board chair testify | HIGHLIGHTS

WE Charity's former board chair Michelle Douglas and co-founders Craig and Marc Kielburger testified on Tuesday as part of Canadian House of Commons finance committee hearings into the WE Charity scandal, which is working to determine how an organization with close financial ties to prominent members of the government received a sole-sourced contract to run the Canada Student Service Grant.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau, as well as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, are also being investigated by the federal ethics watchdog for possible violations of conflict of interest rules.

In her opening statement, Douglas said it was understood by board members that “speakers were not paid by the charity or related organizations to speak at WE Days,” which appears to stand in contrast to the reports in recent weeks that the WE Charity paid speaking fees to members of the Trudeau family.

Regarding the student grant program, Craig and Marc said that money would be to cover expenses incurred in setting up the program and not as a benefit to themselves and their organization. They added that by returning the money they have received so far, the group will be out roughly $5 million.

The brothers also defended their decisions not to register as lobbyists and insisted their organization has not met the legal definition of lobbying even though it has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees to Trudeau’s family members and hired Morneau’s daughter.

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