Canadian PM Justin Trudeau faces another ethics probe over CSSG program

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is being investigated by the country's ethics commissioner for the third time since 2017 in a conflict of interest case. Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion launched an inquiry into a government contract awarded to a charity that has ties with Trudeau's family. The ethics commissioner's office will look into whether Trudeau broke rules while picking WE Charity to administer the Canada Student Service Grant (CSSG), a government program for post-secondary students to take part in service activities supporting communities during the era of COVID-19, which in return will help them earn necessary funds for tuition and other expenses.

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The probe was opened after Canada's main opposition Conservative Party alleged that Trudeau broke rules and participated in decision making while awarding the contract to WE Charity with which his family has close ties. According to reports, Prime Minister and his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau regularly appear at charity events organised by the WE Charity. Sophie Gregoire also hosts a podcast on WE Charity's website. Following the controversy, WE Charity has decided to pass on the program's operations to the Canadian government, which was outsourced to them as a partner. 

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"Even as CSSG take-up has been very strong, the program has also been enmeshed in controversy from the moment of its announcement. Questions have been asked about the program’s origin, about the concept of outsourcing the program’s operations, about the choice of WE Charity as the government’s partner, and the underlying merit of paid service. Our concern is that to continue in this way, the program itself will begin to suffer – and as a consequence, opportunities for students might be negatively affected. WE Charity and ESDC have mutually agreed that the operational responsibility will be passed to the Government of Canada," WE Charity said on its website. 

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Trudeau's earlier 'conflict of interest' cases

Justin Trudeau in 2017 was investigated by the ethics commissioner over accepting a vacation to Aga Khan's private island at a time when the latter was discussing funding for projects with his government. Trudeau was then investigated again in 2019 for seeking to influence a corporate legal case against an engineering company by asking his attorney general not to prosecute it. 

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