#Canadian PM Justin Trudeau apologizes for charity payments tied to his family

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized for failing to remove himself from a decision to allow a charity with links to his family administer a multi-million-dollar student grant program.

“I made a mistake in not recusing myself immediately from the discussions, given our family’s history, and I’m sincerely sorry about not having done that,” Trudeau said at a nationally televised news conference on Monday.

Trudeau’s government tapped the WE Charity Canada on June 25 to manage the $900 million CAD program. The charity, which would have been paid $19.5 million CAD, pulled out of the contract after it was revealed that Trudeau’s mother and brother had been paid speaking fees at WE events.

“I was very aware that members of my family had worked with and contributed to the WE organization, but I was unaware of the details of their remuneration,” Trudeau said.

His mother, Margaret, was paid $250,000 CAD and his brother, Alexandre, got about $32,000 CAD in fees between 2016 and 2020.

Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, have also taken part in WE Charity events, and his wife hosts a podcast on the charity’s website.

She is not paid by the charity.

Opposition lawmakers have called for Trudeau to testify before finance committees investigating how the contract was awarded.

It’s the second time Trudeau took to national television to apologize in less than a year.

He appeared last September after images surfaced of him in “brownface.”

The grant program was intended to help students find summer jobs during the coronavirus pandemic.

The government will now run the program.

With Post wires