China News Service, Toronto, July 4th (Reporter Yu Ruidong) Mario Dion, Commissioner for Conflicts of Interest and Ethics of the Canadian Parliament, disclosed in Ottawa on July 3 local time that it is targeting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Investigate whether there are violations of the "Conflict of Interest Law" in the administration of government grants.
The Prime Minister’s Office told the media that night that it would cooperate with the relevant investigation.
Data Map: Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau. China News Service issued MSC/Kuhlmann photo
Trudeau announced on June 25 that as one of the relief measures of the epidemic, the Canadian government launched the Student Services Grant Program, which provides students between 1,000 and 5,000 Canadian dollars in grants for college students and fresh graduates who plan to do summer volunteer work. The project, totaling more than 900 million Canadian dollars, was handed over to an organization called "Our Charity".
However, Canadian media disclosed that Trudeau and his family are closely related to the agency. For example, Trudeau and his mother have participated in the organization’s charity activities many times, and Mrs. Trudeau’s wife Sophie has acted as an ambassador for the organization and hosted a podcast show. This caused public doubts about Trudeau and the Liberal government he led, criticizing the matter for alleged "nepotism."
Trudeau defended the cooperation between the government and "Our Charity" at the end of June. He told the media that only the institution has the ability to manage this bursary program. Opposition parties in Congress called for an investigation.
On July 3, the Canadian government and "Our Charity" announced the suspension of cooperation, which will refund all funds received. One week after the launch of the bursary program, "We Charity" has received more than 35,000 applications.
Ethics Commissioner Dion decided to launch an investigation into Trudeau after receiving a request from an opposition MP. He stated that the investigation will be conducted in a confidential state and the report will be published after completion.
The Ethics Commissioner had determined in December 2017 that Trudeau’s private island helicopter of the rich Aga Khan family had taken a vacation to his private island about a year ago in violation of the Conflict of Interest Law. In August 2019, the Ethics Commissioner also found that Trudeau tried to interfere with the justice in the SNC Lan Wanling case, violating the Conflict of Interest Law.
The Office of the Commissioner for Conflicts of Interest and Ethics is a physical unit of the Canadian Parliament. However, the Ethics Commissioner does not have the power to impose sanctions on violations by public officials. (Finish)