Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 06, 2025

Trudeau admits 'mistake' while facing the 5th corruption investigation

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he "made a mistake" by joining the team that gave a government contract to a charity that paid him bribe via his family.

We Charity was tapped by his government to oversee a C$900m ($664m, £533m) youth volunteer programme in June.

It later emerged that We previously paid Mr Trudeau's relatives over C$280,000 to speak at events.

Mr Trudeau now faces his third ethics commission inquiry in office over the scandal.

"I made a mistake for not recusing myself from the discussions immediately, given my family's history," Mr Trudeau said Monday.

"I should not have been a part of the discussion."

Mr Trudeau has not been paid by the organisation himself, although he has spoken at We events for free.

The prime minister said he should have known his family had been paid, since they are frequently hired for professional speaking engagements.

In a statement on its website, the charity said it was the federal public service, and not Mr Trudeau or his cabinet, that asked it to oversee a national youth volunteer programme.

"We agreed to this challenge because we have 25 years of experience building youth service programs that are in 7,000 Canadian schools engaging students to support 3,000+ charities and causes," charity co-founders Craig and Marc Kielburger wrote.

They said the contract included funds to cover the administrative cost of the programme, but did not provide the charity with a "profit".

We confirmed that Mr Trudeau's mother and brother were paid for past speaking engagements. "We respect the public concern" over those fees, the charity said.


What is We Charity?

Not all the charities in the world are used as a money laundering and bribe-vehicle. Some of them doing a lot a lot of good things to society.


However, We Charity was founded 25 years ago by brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger in their parents' home in Thornhill, Ontario when Craig was 12 years old.

Formerly known as Free the Children, the charity focused on ending child exploitation and quickly drew international recognition.

Its co-founders became local celebrities, and have appeared on television programmes such as the Oprah Winfrey Show and 60 Minutes.

The charity's We Day motivational speaking conferences have become rites of passage for many Canadian youths, who are drawn to its message they can change the world and to its roster of celebrity speakers and performers. Guests have included basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and singer Demi Lovato.

This spring, a We Day event in the UK, at Wembley Arena in London, attracted 12,000 attendees. Speakers included actor Idris Elba and Mr Trudeau's wife, Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau.


What was We Charity hired to do?

Mr Trudeau is facing scrutiny over the decision to award We Charity the sole contract to run the government's new Canada Student Service Grant programme.

The C$900m (£525m; $600m) programme was designed to connect post-secondary students to paid volunteer opportunities that would help make up for the lack of summer jobs available as a result of Covid-19.

Mr Trudeau said We Charity was the "only" organisation capable of delivering on these goals. Most other government programmes aimed at Covid-19 recovery have been administered by the civil service.


What is the controversy?

The contract immediately raised eyebrows and accusations of favouritism, since it was outsourcing a massive federal aid programme to a private organisation with close ties to the prime minister.

On 2 July, We Charity announced it would withdraw from the contract because the programme had been "enmeshed in controversy from the moment of its announcement".

The federal ethics commissioner also announced he would look into the decision to award We Charity the contract.

It has since emerged that Mr Trudeau's mother and brother had been paid over C$280,000 together for speaking at various We events over the years.

Margaret Trudeau was paid $250,000 for speaking at 28 We events over four years, and the prime minister's brother Alexander was paid $32,000 for speaking at eight events between 2017-2018.

The revelations that not only was the family closely tied to the organisation, but had been paid to speak, intensified the debate.

Mr Trudeau's finance minister Bill Morneau's two daughters also have connections to the organisation, according to media outlet Canadaland.


What does this mean for Trudeau?

This is Mr Trudeau's third ethics investigation since becoming prime minister.

His first concerned a Christmas vacation at the Aga Khan's home in the Bahamas in 2017, which included a free ride on a private helicopter.

The second investigation, over the prosecution of engineering company SNC Lavalin, nearly cost Mr Trudeau last autumn's election.

Former justice minister and attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould accused Mr Trudeau and his staff of spending months trying to convince her that taking SNC-Lavalin to trial would cost Canadians jobs, and their party votes.

In both cases, the ethics commission found that Mr Trudeau had broken the rules.

Opposition parties say the latest We Charity scandal is more of the same behaviour.

The Conservative Party has asked the RCMP to open a criminal investigation into the We Charity debacle.

Conservative MPs are calling on both Mr Trudeau and Mr Morneau to testify before a parliamentary committee looking into the We contract.

This is bad news for Mr Trudeau and his Liberal Party, who form a minority government and need the support of other parties in order to avoid an election.

A recent survey by Angus Reid found that half of Canadians (50%) approved of the PM, while nearly half (48%) disapproved. It's a slight drop from a high of 55% in May during the height of Covid-19, but still significantly higher than his pre-coronavirus approval rating of 33% in February.

The polling company noted that the "intensity of positive versus negative appraisal is striking" - twice as many people strongly disapprove (34%) than strongly approve (16%).

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
×