Justin Trudeau calls for prorogation of parliament, releases WE Charity scandal documents

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he has sought approval Governor General Julie Payette to prorogue parliament until September 23. With the proroguing of the Parliamentary sessions, committees probing WE Charity student volunteer grant controversy are suspended along with Parliamentary business. Trudeau said he is releasing all documentation requested earlier concerning the ongoing WE Charity scandal after the opposition demanded the immediate release of the documents "before Trudeau shutters Parliament & locks up the evidence".

"Today, I have asked the Governor-General to prorogue parliament, which must happen before any government can present a throne speech," Trudeau said.

"We are taking a moment to recognize that the throne speech we delivered eight months ago made no mention of COVID-19, had no conception of the reality we find ourselves in right now," Trudeau said in a news conference on Tuesday.

"We need to reset the approach of this government for a recovery to build back better. And those are big, important decisions and we need to present that to Parliament and to gain the confidence of Parliament to move forward on this ambitious plan."

The move will lay out a long term plan by the government to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and will also provide an opportunity for a vote on whether the House has confidence in the government.

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Opposition reacts

The opposition has slammed the move by the Canadian Prime Minister with Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer calling Trudeau "spineless" and accused him of "hiding out" during the probing of political scandal.

Justin Trudeau has given corruption, chaos and coverups when Canadians looked for stability and leadership, he added.

New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh opined that shutting down Parliament during an economic crisis and pandemic is a wrong decision.

Bill Morneau, the former Finance Minister resigned on Monday and also stepped down as the MP for Toronto Centre due to the WE Charity student volunteer grant controversy in question. Chrystia Freeland has assigned to take over the responsibilities after Morneau's resignation. 

Morneau and Trudeau, both are being probed by Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion after their government gave a contract of $43.53 million to WE Charity to administer a $900-million government-sponsored student volunteer program despite both the politicians' families having close ties to the charity.

(With ANI inputs)

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