Politics This Morning: Chagger to testify at Finance Committee on WE Charity deal

Good Thursday morning, Youth Minister Bardish Chagger will testify before the House Finance Committee this afternoon as part of its probe into the now-abandoned WE Charity deal that entrusted the organization to administer the $900-million student-volunteer program. Ms. Chagger's office is taking the reins in figuring out how the government will roll out the program after both parties decided to scrap the arrangement amid outcry over a perceived conflict of interest involving the prime minister, whose family has close ties with the organization. According to CBC, the government still has to work out whether, or how, to move forward with partners that had been recruited to the program by WE. Some efforts to assign students to their volunteer placements have stalled, while some charities are concerned about whether the government will honour the pledge to provide funding for the cost of taking on student volunteers, who have been promised an honorarium for their participation, according to The Canadian Press. Ms. Chagger will be joined by Gina Wilson, senior associate deputy minister of youth, at the hearing at 3 p.m. Other witnesses include Volunteer Canada's CEO and departmental officials from Employment and Social Development Canada. The minister will likely face questions on the cabinet discussions that saw the government approve WE to administer the program, and whether ministers raised concerns about the PM's potential conflict of interest. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Bill Morneau have apologized for not recusing themselves from the decision. National Post reported that the Trudeau government enlisted and paid $1.18-million for WE Charity to host a Canada Day event in 2017. The report has also raised questions as to whether the PM was involved in the decision to choose WE as the host. Mr. Trudeau's mother, Margaret, who has been paid in the past for her appearances at WE events, was among those who spoke at the gathering on Parliament Hill. In other news, Statistics Canada announced it's partnering with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police to start collecting race-based data on the police interactions with the public. RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki said in a tweet that the data could be used to provide a "clearer picture of police interactions with racialized communities is vital to maintaining the trust and respect of Canadians." According to CBC, that such data could be used for the StatsCan's uniform crime reporting survey. They plan to hold discussions with stakeholders on the process for collecting this data on Indigenous and racialized communities. The press release announcing the partnership cited calls by the Missing and Murdered Inquiry into Indigenous Women and Girls, which, in its calls for justice, appealed for the collection of disaggregated across jurisdictions as a means of measuring the impact of policies and laws on Indigenous women, girls, and gender-diverse people. Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet has denied allegations of sexual misconduct posted anonymously on Facebook. The incident, which the unnamed individual alleges happened in the late 1990s at a party, and the allegations have not been corroborated or verified. Mr. Blanchet issued a statement calling on the individual to come forward and file a police complaint. Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said the central bank will be keeping its key interest rate at 0.25 per cent for the foreseeable future, until economic conditions improve. He also said it's projecting an economic contraction of 7.8 per cent. In scheduled events, Small Business Minister Mary Ng is scheduled to pop in for a tour at PCL Graphics, a company that retooled its operations to produce personal protective equipment for front-line workers. That's happening at 3:30 p.m. Economic Development Minister Mélanie Joly and Treasury Board President Jean-Yves Duclos are slated to make a funding announcement in support of the manufacturing sector at 1:45 p.m. at Valmec, a manufacturing company, in Quebec City. The Hill Times

Politics This Morning

Politics This Morning: Chagger to testify at Finance Committee on WE Charity deal

Plus, StatsCan and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police have struck a partnership to collect race-based data on police interactions.

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Politics This Morning

Politics This Morning: Chagger to testify at Finance Committee on WE Charity deal

Plus, StatsCan and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police have struck a partnership to collect race-based data on police interactions.

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