Liberals To Back Off Stall Tactics On WE Charity Affair, Will They?

OTTAWA — The Liberals said Monday they will cede some ground on the WE Charity affair, which has been mired in filibusters and duelling committee motions for nearly two months — but appeared to yield only minimal turf.

Government House leader Pablo Rodriguez said his party has agreed to send unredacted documents linked to the controversy to the parliamentary law clerk, who will then decide what information needs to be blacked out to protect personal privacy.

The mild concession came in response to a Conservative motion that calls on the Speaker of the Commons to rule that redactions made to more than 5,000 pages of government documents on the WE affair amount to a breach of the finance committee’s privileges.

“We have now agreed to send unredacted documents to the Law Clerk, except those that were redacted to protect cabinet confidences and unrelated material as already allowed by the committee motion,” Rodriguez said Monday in a Twitter post.

His proposal differs somewhat from the Conservative motion, which would leave it in the law clerk’s hands to black out confidential cabinet communications and irrelevant content.

Conservative finance critic Pierre Poilievre said cabinet confidences make up nearly half of the originally submitted documents, with “unrelated material” also hidden from view. Rodriguez’s new proposal would make no difference other than to disclose the names and phone numbers of some individuals that were redacted for privacy concerns.

Nonetheless, Poilievre said his party is willing to meet the Liberals halfway.

“If the government insists that it needs to put aside what it claims are cabinet confidences, fine, we’ll do that for now,” he said Monday at a news conference.

The issue of unrelated documents arriving in the law clerk’s hands already redacted remains a “sticking point,” he added, leaving it up in the air whether the Tories will accept Rodriguez’s compromise.

“If they’re totally unrelated to the WE controversy, why did the government put them in the bundle of WE documents and then cover them in black ink?” Poilievre asked.

“We just want the parliamentary law clerk to look at them and confirm whether or not they are irrelevant to our study.”

Rodriguez, whose tweets pre-empted Poilievre’s press conference by one hour, accused the other parties of refusing to hear from public servants in committee and scolded the opposition for not setting “partisanship aside.”

The broader controversy revolves around the government’s decision to pay WE Charity $43.5 million to manage a grant program for student volunteers, despite the organization’s close ties to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family.

WE backed out of the arrangement in early July, within days of the decision being made public. The program was later cancelled.

Trudeau and former finance minister Bill Morneau, who also has close ties to WE, have apologized for not recusing themselves from the decision to involve the charity. Both are under investigation by the federal ethics commissioner.

Despite Monday’s moves towards a compromise over the documents sent to the finance committee, accusations of delay tactics and procedural shenanigans did not let up in another venue.

At the House of Commons ethics committee — which remains stuck on a motion to examine government spending during the pandemic, including Trudeau’s relationship with WE — Liberal MP Han Dong proposed a study on how to protect elections from cyber interference.

NDP MP Charlie Angus, who put forward the spending motion two weeks ago, said Dong’s unrelated motion belongs in the procedural and House affairs committee instead.

“If the Liberals are going to talk the clock into the coming weeks about the U.S. electoral system, I think that’s very problematic,” Angus said, adding it had nothing to do with the ethics committee.

Earlier this month, Liberal MPs filibustered ethics committee hearings with ruminations ranging from the role of Parliament to the value of the organizations the opposition wants to examine.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 16, 2020.

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press

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[ultra]

As a taxpayer I don’t work for you, you work for me, so I want all the documents now or your fired. Liberal Government is such a embarrassment to Canadians.

[darkvapor]

Canadians want transparency on where there money went, WE are the ones that will be paying this money back !

[bobnelsen]

Absolutely Those documents need to be public knowledge!

[AboutFace-gqtx]

I feel that ( WE) is only scratching the surface, going back decades, Trudeau n the liberals are scum, the government, are holding up all transparency, honesty, and willingness to treat the Canadian people with respect.
The more crap the government can throw into the spokes of our society, the more they figure ( we the people, will get numb, throw up our hands n say this corruption is to much ongoing duress, making life, seem like its passing you by.
Covid is the only thing that caused a moment of pause, for the Canadian citizens to have time to take notice, of just how corrupt n immoral Canada is n has been for decades.
Canadians need to find respect again for our country again, which can only happen ( by the people, for the people), as government has become impotent on every level of honesty.
The people have to take some blame, because we allowed this to happen. The people of Canada are the real power n soul of this country, when was it, that we forgot that, or were cultured through daily life, to wear blinders, while this disgusting corruption grew.
Take notice people. Its time for change. We all need to unite across Canada, and with discipline, honesty, respect for this beautiful place we live, make it known ( time is up for the unlawful acts n lies of our government, each n every day!!!!)

[rebeccavansant]

I have had it with all the excuses that the liberals have made and will continue to.

[elenaquah]

Whether the Law Clerk's work will be compromised by 'their federal boss' remains to be seen. Note Ethics Commissioner's recent ruling of Mr. Morneau's 'unintentional miss' in paying back $40, 000+ to We & hence not guilty of ethics violation!

[brady]

This is not a concession! It is actually the rule of Parliament. Law clerk is the only one allowed to redact those documents. Some concession.

[zoemikhchi]

I'M sure JOE BIDEN/HARRIS can help our Crime Minister to produce and gather stalk of documents if necessary???!!

[redrose-wbbw]

Since when were the minority Liberals in the driver's seat on the WE scandal? Why are the Libs even Allowed to pull this malarky?

[Aikidobear]

"Privacy"? How does that factor into the equation when they're spending public money???

[jamesthomas]

We don't have the right to bear arms because of burglars; we have the right to bear arms to resist the supreme power of a corrupt and abusive government. "Vince Vaughn"

[HiddenInPlainSight]

I guess this is a big step, I don't trust they're words. You know there's high level ties. I doubt they are done with trickery

[johngilmour]

this is all theatre if they cannot get it into court???

[robert]

They have not. There is no grounds or reason why documents should be redacted from individuals who work to run this country, regardless of them not being part of the liberal party.

It is quite clear that a scandal has happened and criminal activity has happened.

[laurieparker-stuart]

Trudeau Family did SO WELL $$ with the WE Charity. Holidays are coming- Canadian citizens could use some dough- Oh wait - Tru-dough cancelled Christmas. -Xmas Redacted. But, as Justin says: We all must do our best: Joyeux Noel mes amis.- fa la

[tossedsalad]

It's all a soap opera worse then days of our lives or general hospital

[mdh]

Turdeau leads Canada's most opaque Gov't

[easternsaxon]

I call bullshit on the Cabinet confidence pages. Send them all to the law clerk and let them decide what’s pertinent and what’s not wrt the We scandal.

[georgehemsworth]

What did Trudeau mean by covid is opportunity to reset the economy

[brianwaldo]

Poilievre... you might want to try a pronouncement like, Poly-ev.