Federal youth minister Bardish Chagger and some senior public servants were the first witnesses before the House of Commons finance committee as it begins the first parliamentary probe of how WE got selected to administer the Canada Student Service Grant.

WE gave up the contract amid the controversy two weeks ago.

Chagger told the committee Thursday she was not directed by the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau‘s office to make an agreement with WE Charity to run a federal volunteering program, a deal that has since been aborted and mired in ethical questions.

Chagger told the House of Commons finance committee that she didn’t personally have conversations with Trudeau’s office, or that of Finance Minister Bill Morneau, prior to cabinet approval of the deal.

She says a senior official at the department of Employment and Social Development Canada made the recommendation in writing that WE was the only organization in the country that could run and scale up the $912-million student grant program.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has admitted he should have recused himself from the decision to award the contract, given his family’s links to the group co-founded by brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger.

MORE: https://globalnews.ca/news/7183192/parliamentary-investigation-we-charity/

For more info, please go to http://www.globalnews.ca
Subscribe to Global News Channel HERE: http://bit.ly/20fcXDc
Like Global News on Facebook HERE: http://bit.ly/255GMJQ
Follow Global News on Twitter HERE: http://bit.ly/1Toz8mt
Follow Global News on Instagram HERE: https://bit.ly/2QZaZIB
#WECharity #GlobalNews #JustinTrudeau