RUTHFULLY YOURS

The latest scandal involves WE Charity. Originally known as Free the Children, it was founded in 1995 by two well-known Canadian human-rights activists, brothers Marc and Craig Kielburger. WE has raised awareness of the plight of children in underdeveloped nations. It has fought to strike down abusive child-labor laws, improve education and promote healthy nutrition and access to clean drinking water.

Ottawa recently awarded the charity a contract worth 19.5 million Canadian dollars (around US$14.5 million) to administer the C$912 million Canada Student Service Grant program. WE had earlier received C$120,000 from several government contracts and C$5.2 million in government grants during Mr. Trudeau’s tenure. Mr. Trudeau asserted WE’s “extensive practice” with third parties and other charities made it “the best and only organization able to deliver on the scale.”

While few challenged the prime minister’s or WE’s motives, this changed when the charity’s ties to the federal Liberals—and Mr. Trudeau’s family—were revealed.

Mr. Trudeau claimed that neither he nor his wife, Sophie, was paid for their work for the charity. (She’s an ambassador for one of its programs, WE Well-being, and hosts a podcast.) That turned out to be not entirely true. Although no evidence has surfaced that the prime minister took money from the charity, Mrs. Trudeau received a C$1,400 speaking fee in 2012. The prime minister’s brother Alexandre has also been paid C$32,000 for speaking at eight events, and their mother, Margaret, C$312,000 for 28 events.

Two daughters of Finance Minister Bill Morneau also have ties to the group. One is a contract employee, and the other spoke at three WE events.

It was then revealed Messrs. Trudeau and Morneau were both involved in the cabinet’s decision-making process to award WE the latest contract, in spite of these obvious conflicts of interest. Mr. Trudeau held a news conference and apologized profusely for not recusing himself, and Mr. Morneau followed suit.

Recent stories from the right-leaning Toronto Sun columnist Brian Lilley (WE went from C$10.8 million to C$43.7 million in Canadian real estate holdings in a five-year span) and the left-leaning Canadaland website (WE reportedly shifted millions of dollars into the founders’ private company) have caused some indirect headaches for Mr. Trudeau, too.

Yet another bombshell arrived last Wednesday. Global News reported the Student Service Grant had gone to the WE Charity Foundation, not WE Charity. The former, which Global described as a “distinct charity with no track record,” is in charge only of the controversial real-estate holdings. Did the Liberals know about this distinction, or did WE pull the wool over their eyes?

On the same day, Mr. Morneau repaid C$41,000 to WE hours before he was supposed to appear before the House of Commons Finance Committee about WE’s contract. It was related to two 2017 trips he and his family took on WE-related ventures—which he claimed to have forgotten, and WE never asked him to repay. Mr. Trudeau also agreed to testify in front of the same committee, which is highly unusual for a prime minister.

Can Mr. Trudeau survive? He leads a minority government, with opposition Tories and left-leaning third parties equally fed up. A recent poll from the Angus Reid Institute showed that Canadians, who liked his leadership early in the Covid-19 pandemic, are less pleased today. Canadians tend to be forgiving, but there are limits.

Mr. Taube, a columnist for Troy Media and Loonie Politics, was a speechwriter for former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper.