“This happened on your watch, Minister, because you brought this $900-million program to cabinet.” (July 16, 2020, FINA) “When we end up in a situation in the middle of a pandemic, in which $900 million is awarded to a group that has deep ties to the Trudeau family, the obvious question is why that did not raise flags in the Prime Minister's Office.” (July 17, 2020, ETHI) “The question of why we are here is really about the decision to take $900 million and transfer it to a third-party organization that has very close connections to the Trudeau family and Mr. Morneau.” (July 22, 2020, FINA) “How in God's name is it a credible decision by the Government of Canada to funnel nearly a billion dollars to a group that's very close to you and your family, and that's very close to the Prime Minister and his family?” (July 22, 2020, FINA) “We're talking about $900 million.” (July 22, 2020, FINA) “...yet this is where the Kielburger brothers decide to funnel $900 million.” (July 28, FINA) “I am just someone concerned that nearly a billion dollars of emergency funding was privatized to the Kielburger group in the middle of a pandemic. (July 30, 2020, Twitter) “Having run out of means to distract attention from @JustinTrudeau's billion-dollar Kielburger meltdown…” (August 3, 2020, Twitter) “This was the pivotal moment where the WE brothers become embedded with with (sic) liberal government in writing the $900mil deal.” (August 19, 2020, Twitter) “…a deal that was worth between 500 million and 900 million dollars…” (September 1, 2020, Charlie Angus Press Conference) “When we are investigation how a 900 million-dollar deal went off the rails…” (September 1, 2020, Charlie Angus Press Conference) “When that public office holder is the Prime Minister of the nation, and when we're talking about a decision by key Liberal ministers to support what would have ended up being a $900-million plan to transfer money to this organization that has close financial ties...” (October 15, 2020 ETHI) “They were using the Prime Minister's family to get this $900-million contract…” (October 20, 2020, HOC) “So that was our focus: How did this group, that is a supposed charity for children, get such an inside track on a deal that was between $500 million and $912 million?” (November 9, 2020, ETHI) “This counts because, again, when we're talking about government programs—especially in the nature of something close to a billion dollars that's going to be handed out—we need to know that the governance structure is sound and that this is an organization that can actually deliver. (November 13, 2020, ETHI) “from the full $912 million program that we are focused on.” (November 13, 2020, ETHI) “When our parliamentary committees, the finance and ethics committees, began looking at the questions around the WE and the granting of the $912 million...” (November 27, 2020, ETHI) “One was the entrepreneurship program with Minister Bill Morneau, which was $12 million, and the Canada student service grant, eventually for $900 million.” (November 27, 2020, ETHI) “…Minister Morneau had to resign his position because of his involvement in the $900 million WE scandal.” (December 16, 2020, Charlie Angus Press Conference) “…Bill Morneau responding to his friends at the Kielburger organization with a $12 million contract plus the $900 million dollars.” (December 16, 2020, Charlie Angus Press Conference) “This was a group (WE) that came to the Canadian government and were going to receive between $500 and $900 million dollars based on their ability to deliver the programs in a fast and efficient manner.” (February 19, 2020, ETHI) “… the issue here is 912 million dollars and whether or not that was obtained through illegal lobbying…” (February 26, 2021, ETHI) “that was going to award them a (sic) 912 million dollars…” (March 1, 2021, Evan Solomon Radio Show) “they were making pretty big claims for that 912 million” (March 1, 2021, Evan Solomon Radio Show) “Today should have been the last day of witness testimony of our study into the $912 million in taxpayers’ money that would have been gone to the given to the Kielburger group.” (March 8, 2021, ETHI) “Minister Chagger gave them a heads up on this separate service stream proposal that became the $900 million grant.” (March 8, 2021, ETHI) “And any group, any organization that's looking to receive $912 million in taxpayer's money, they must be willing to show up and answer the hard questions.” (March 8, 2021, ETHI)

The total value of the contribution agreement with WE Charity was $543.5M, (see a copy of the agreement here) not $900 million as Mr. Angus well knows, yet he has falsely stated this number dozens of times. The correct value of the contribution agreement has been in the public domain since July 25, 2020, but Mr. Angus continues to misstate the value in a bid to sensationalize the matter. In official communications, Mr. Angus reverts to the correct number. For example, in his August 10, 2020, letter to the Commissioner of Lobbying, he twice states the accurate value: “If you look at the contracts leading up to the $543 million CSSG grant it would appear…” and “…to secure the $543 million contribution agreement to administer the Canada Student Service Grant (CSSG).” So, it is clear this is an intentional tactic by Mr. Angus to mislead Canadians. WE’s role in the CSSG did not allow for any “profit” (by definition, a charity cannot generate or earn profits) or financial gain for the organization whatsoever. The theoretical maximum expense reimbursement to WE was $34.78M only if all 100,000 students engaged in the program. These costs were for all aspects of the program including its design, delivery, disbursement of grants, third-party costs, etc. This was not a set payment and only a maximum amount to reimburse expenses.

“…if you look at the documents that identify how this deal came about, we see that the Kielburgers were reaching out for an initial program. We're going to talk about that later, because that is a very interesting one that has been very overlooked.” (November 9, 2020, ETHI) “The Kielburgers continue to push the false line they gave to our committee that they became embroiled in this controversy because they naively answered the government's call for help. Not true.” (September 10, 2020, Twitter)

The government’s own publicly-released chronology corroborates that WE had discussions with government officials prior to April 20 about a small-in-scope youth entrepreneurship program “unrelated to the service grant” (CSSG). The call from Rachel Wernick about the program that would become the CSSG did not happen until Sunday April 20, as has been widely corroborated in the public domain, and the government’s documents: - “April 16, ESDC chronology indicates that an email from Rachel Wernick to Michelle Kovacevic noted ‘Volunteer Canada low capacity, I have asked Job Bank to come back to me with a proposal.’” - “April 19, Final memo to the Finance Minister on options for entire student package. First note of the Canada Student Service Grant with third party delivery suggested (includes WE, Shopify as examples).”

“For example, our committee found out that the board of directors was fired in the middle of the pandemic for asking for financial statements… (November 30, 2020, ETHI) “The other board was removed.” (November 30, 2020, ETHI) “Personally, I think it was questionable that one charity could take 10,000 students when they had fired all their staff.” (November 30, 2020, ETHI) “…according to reports we had, how they had gotten very angry at the board and had hung up on them and had then phoned and said they wanted their resignations.” (November 9, 2020, ETHI) “That's before we learned that they'd fired their board.” (August 11, 2020, ETHI)

The WE Charity Board was not fired. Of the seven current Directors on the WE Charity North American Board, four have each served for three or more years. The Board is composed of skilled individuals who have expertise in law, finance and education. They provide strong overall governance. WE Charity is grateful to Michelle Douglas, the Chair of the Board of Directors of WE Charity. She resigned in March 2020, during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Other Board Members transitioned as part of renewal processes tied to the organization’s 25th anniversary. In terms of layoffs, due to the impact of COVID-19, like thousands of other organizations around the world, WE Charity did have to lay off employees, especially from its global service travel and live events division. As a result of the difficult and painful decision to lay off staff – who were given generous severance packages – the organization was right-sized and in sound financial position going into the summer of 2020.

“...the WE Charity is not overseeing this program, but a shell company, the WE Charity Foundation. When I look into the WE foundation, I don't see a governance structure in place, other than it looks as though it's people who work for the Kielburgers, and its stated aim is holding real estate. It has no assets.” (July 28, 2020, FINA) “I've never heard of a real estate holding company getting upwards of $500 million of taxpayers' money to deliver a program.” (July 28, 2020, FINA) “The Kielburgers had many of these numbered shell companies.” (November 30, 2020, ETHI) “we find multiple shell companies, real estate holdings, private companies…” (December 16, 2020, Charlie Angus Press Conference) “...that it was the federal government's idea to push this through a real estate holding company? Is that what you're saying?” (July 28, 2020, FINA) “...signed off on giving the money, upwards of $500 million, to a company, a holding company that you have... whose original purpose of was to hold your real estate?” (July 28, 2020, FINA) “The federal government was going to deliver over $500 million to a shell company, and the board of directors of that shell company were employees of WE.” (November 30, 2020, ETHI) “I mean, I don't hold a bunch of numbered companies. I would have thought you were just a charity, but no, it's set up to limit your liability. It was originally set up for real estate, and then you changed it.” (July 28, 2020, FINA) “Then there is the fact that the government agreed to funnel the money through the real estate holding company.” (July 22, 2020, FINA) “We learned today that the Government of Canada signed a $900-million deal with a real estate holding company with no track record—just established—no history and no involvement in the charitable sector.” (July 22, 2020, FINA) “When the agreement was signed, we were all surprised to find that the agreement was actually set up with a shell company, the WE Charity Foundation, which the documents said was set up to handle real estate” (November 30, 2020, ETHI) “Wow. It's a real estate holding company and you didn't double-check that. Where is the due diligence, Minister?” (July 22, 2020, FINA) ”Why was the $900 million government emergency funding funnelled through a real estate holding company?” (July 22, 2020, Twitter) “Trying to get as (sic) sense of WE's complex financial structure with journalist @JesseBrown Multiple holding companies, real estate holdings.” (July 22, 2020, Twitter) “I would ask you if you've looked at the contracts that were signed between the Government of Canada and the holding company that was set up…” (November 27, 2020, ETHI) “…had raised questions about why you had a shell company that was there to limit liability, and lo and behold, it just became the perfect avenue.” (July 28, 2020, FINA) “That's before we learned that they were setting up a shell company that had no assets.” (August 11, 2020, ETHI) “That alone, without asking the questions about why they had to set up a shell company and the fact that they were in financial free fall when they came to the government for money.” (August 11, 2020, ETHI) “Charlie Angus said the closure of WE Charity’s Canadian operations shows that it was ‘in economic free fall’ and ‘desperate’ when the Trudeau government gave it the now-cancelled contract earlier this year.” (September 9, 2020, Cambridge Times) “We have a multiplicity of side companies, real estate holdings and shell companies, and bureaucrats took it for granted, as I think we all would have, that they were dealing with WE Charity.” (March 8, 2021, ETHI) “But in the end, the Canadian people were asked to sign over $540 million in that initial funding agreement to a shell company that was set up to manage WE's immense real estate holdings.” (March 8, 2021, ETHI)

WE Charity Foundation is a registered charity. It is not a company. WE Charity Foundation has never held real estate assets. Prior to the CSSG, it never operated nor held any funds for any purpose. Its mandate was adjusted with the CRA for the purpose of the CSSG. WE Charity is the sole or founding member of WE Charity Foundation, and as such the WE Charity Board of Directors holds significant governance rights. The WE Charity Foundation was created to manage legal liability. The use of multiple corporate entities to isolate liabilities for particular projects is not uncommon. This structure was selected to manage the CCSG with full awareness of the Government of Canada. It was to assist the Government of Canada, as the Government of Canada required that WE indemnify the government from all losses related to the participation of the first 40,000 students as well as the Non-Profit Partners who were engaging those students. WE Charity was therefore assuming significant possible legal liability for the program, especially considering the service work would be done during a global health pandemic. Such liability could overwhelm WE Charity, and counsel advised that the contracting party would preferably be WE Charity Foundation.

“My colleagues, I feel that our committee is now catching spears from the Kielburger group, who are very adept, as we know, in media and media manipulation. As our committee is unable to finish our report, they have launched a major publicity campaign. Firehouse Strategies talks about getting 18 articles in. Well, they've certainly gotten op-eds into the Toronto Star, and they've gotten other elements out there.” (November 13, 2020, ETHI)

Since June 2020 (when the CSSG was announced) The Toronto Star has published exactly one Op-Ed by a WE Charity employee – it was by WE Charity’s Executive Director Dalal Al Waheidi who wrote the charity’s impact around the world over the last 25 years. WE Charity employees have not had op-eds appear in any other newspapers since the start of the CSSG issue

“They sold water in Kenya under the ME to WE label. We later found out that they were banned in Kenya. My daughter, who worked in Africa, said, ‘You have to really do something, Dad, to get banned in Kenya.’ The Kielburger group was running this water company, yet still being a charity.” (December 16, 2020, ETHI)

ME to WE has never sold water in Kenya nor has it been banned in that country.

“They paid $41,000 to you and your family to travel and it was not reported.” (July 22, 2020, FINA) “You just remembered that WE paid $41,000 for you to travel.” (July 22, 2020, FINA) “...Bill (Morneau) says he remembers some documents when he became minister. He forgets that WE paid $41,000 in international travel.” (July 22, Twitter) “The situation we're in is Mr. Bill Morneau was flown to some very exotic places by WE, to the tune of at least $40,000; and I think he paid back more than $51,000, so maybe it's close to $100,000, when the gift limit is $200.” (August 10, 2020, ETHI) “They paid $41,000 for him and his family to travel the world.” (March 8, 2021, ETHI)

WE Charity has never paid Mr. Morneau a single dollar. In 2017, WE Charity invited noted philanthropist Nancy McCain and her daughter, who were in Kenya visiting programs the family philanthropy supported, to see the WE Charity programs. This prompted a second visit from the full McCain-Morneau family in 2017 to WE Charity’s Ecuador projects. WE Charity hosted the family at the project sites in WE accommodation. At the end of that trip, the family donated $50,000, and later followed up with a second $50,000 donation. All international flights and related expenses to Kenya and Ecuador were paid directly by the families. In July 2020, Bill Morneau contacted WE Charity in order to pay the highest possible amount that could have been incurred for arranging similar visits. This was estimated at $41,000 for all family members to stay at the charity’s Kenya and Ecuador project sites. To be clear, these did not represent actual expenses incurred by WE Charity, but represented the absolute maximum costs that could be incurred for such trips by the same number of people.

“You said you needed a website that had a lot of bang. We found out that when it opened, there were 1,500 bogus placements on it.” (July 16, 2020, FINA) “I was asking about the 1,500 bogus placements and due diligence in that regard... (July 16, 2020, FINA) “Personally, I think it was questionable that one charity could take 10,000 students when they had fired all their staff.” (November 30, 2020, ETHI)

There were no “bogus” positions created, as falsely stated by Mr. Angus. In order to meet ESDC’s requirements of having thousands of service opportunities ready for the program launch, WE partnered with not-for-profit organizations to assist them in repositioning their needs into safe service opportunities. WE contracted staff to directly supervise up to 20,000 of the students in order to assist not-for-profit partners who may not have the immediate capacity during the disruption of COVID-19 to supervise students. When the CSSG program launched on June 25, 2020, the goal was to have 20,000 volunteer opportunities available with tens of thousands more to become available over the course of the summer. This goal was exceeded with over 20,000 volunteer opportunities available at launch in support of over 83 not-for-profit organizations.

“We haven't seen anything that tells us that between the first and the second proposals there were a bunch of other proposals on the table. What we've seen between the first and second proposals is that WE was certainly able to really refine their position, so that when Rachel Wernick called them, they had all the right answers. (July 22, 2020, FINA)

Mr. Angus’s speculation is contradicted by the Government of Canada’s submission to the FINA Committee, which includes a chronology that fully explains the sequence of events. As per the civil service statements, Ms. Wernick called Craig Kielburger to explain the government's needs for the CSSG proposal and WE subsequently put forward a proposal. The only proposal put forward by WE before the Wernick call was a Youth Entrepreneurship program – which was very different. It was for $12M year-long program to help youth launch small businesses. It was not approved or funded by the Government of Canada. This is also detailed in the government documents.

“Forcing WE employees to attend @Bill_Morneau parties is one step way over the line - for the charity and for the finance minister.” (July 30, 2020, Twitter)

No employee was forced to attend any events. On December 5, 2018, WE Charity’s head office received a mass email, sent from [email protected], extending an invitation to a holiday party, hosted by then Minister Bill Morneau. The invitation went to dozens of local businesses and non-profits in Mr. Morneau’s riding, including WE Charity as our headquarters located at 399 Queen Street falls within the riding’s boundaries. The charity receives invitations to various community gatherings, which we then circulate to staff who can decide if they want to attend or not. This was routinely done for other local events in the community.

“Min Chagger meets w/WE on Apr 17th. The next day a Finance official tells her colleagues not to contact Spotify as they might have something with EDSC (which is WE). From “FINA Motion 2020-07-07 FINANCE Final_E.pdf” p 46” (September 1, 2020, Twitter)

To this day, we don’t know what this tweet was all about, but we do know that it's unlikely Finance department officials had anything to do with the American company “Spotify” unless they wanted to develop a playlist.

“They led the Canada 150 celebrations.” (March 8, 2021, ETHI) “They were chosen to represent Canada at the U.N. with a huge stadium type show that featured the prime minister and his wife.” (March 8, 2021, ETHI)

WE Day Canada and WE Day UN were not government-led initiatives. WE Day Canada was a celebration of youth, held the day after the Canada 150 celebrations. WE Charity worked with government agencies to allow for use of the Canada 150 stage and Parliament Hill and it received a grant from Heritage Canada. WE Day UN was 100% a WE Charity-led initiative, and WE was not selected by the government or the Prime Minister to lead this initiative. It was part of WE Charity’s plans for expansion in the United States, and was funded by US sponsors and donors.

“Committee testimony revealed that WE was massively overextended and in economic free fall. The volunteer program was a desperate pitch to call in their political favours.” (September 1, 2020, Twitter) “That's when I knew the organization was in deep financial trouble.” (August 10, 2020, Twitter) “And for a group that was just in financial free fall in March…” (July 28, 2020, FINA) “That alone, without asking the questions about why they had to set up a shell company and the fact that they were in financial free fall when they came to the government for money.” (August 11, 2020, ETHI) “I really need to know how this happened, that the Kielburger brothers who are in financial free fall can call three ministers' offices, get a proposal in, and have that proposal reflect almost what the Prime Minister's saying, and then we're moving forward with a $900-million deal.” (August 11, 2020, ETHI). “When they were in financial free fall, they called her (Minister Chagger) and had a special meeting on April 17.” (October 20, 2020, HOC) “So we know they were having to pull money out of the charity into their private corporation, and we know there were defaults on the bank covenants. These red flags were being raised.” (July 22, 2020, FINA)

WE Charity was in a strong financial position prior to the onset of the pandemic in March. WE Charity had multi-year partnerships locked in, revenues were steady or rising for 5 years straight, with a strong asset. However, due to the impact of COVID-19, like most organizations, WE Charity had to make tough staffing decisions, especially in departments where programs were no longer possible due to COVID-19, such as its live stadium WE Day events and ME to WE’s global service travel department. Following these staffing transitions, WE Charity was in stable financial standing with multi-year sponsorship contracts and eight months’ worth of operational assets. As such, it would be inaccurate to make any link between the charity’s financial status and the awarding of the CSSG contribution agreement to WE Charity. Further, as the CSSG contribution agreement clearly states multiple times, WE Charity would only be reimbursed for expenses to deliver the CSSG, and the organization did not stand to make a profit from it in any way. Unfortunately, the fall-out of the CSSG has been severely financially difficult for WE Charity and its beneficiaries. Dr. AL Rosen, a specialist in Investigative and Forensic Accounting (CA-IFA), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and a specialist in Investigative and Forensic Accounting (CA-IFA), with the support of analysis by Froese Forensic Partners, independently reviewed WE’s finances at the time of negotiating the contract. He concluded that, “WE was financially viable at the time of the signing of the CSSG Funding Agreement with the Federal Government and was not in any financial peril.”

“None of them were spoken to. Nobody was spoken to, only the Kielburgers.” (December 4, 2020, ETHI)

According to documents released by the Government of Canada, the public service consulted numerous other non-profit organizations in early April 2020. “Finance [Minister’s Office] (and PMO) hold consultations on students with a broad range of student/youth organizations and stakeholders, including: Alex Usher, CASA, Palette, Actua, Universities Canada, YWCA / YMCA, Colleges & Institutes, Canadian Mental Health Assoc., National Assoc. Friendship Centres, ITK, WE, Canadian Community Education Network, Canadian Council for Rehabilitation and Work, Fédération des cegeps, PMYC, Conseil du Patronat du Québec, and Business/Higher Education Roundtable. The results of these consultations are rolled up into a What We Heard report (not shared with PCO).”

“It’s a project that has nothing to do with the response to the pandemic” (December 16, 2020, Charlie Angus Press Conference) “…Bill Morneau responding to his friends at the Kielburger organization with a $12 million contract plus the $900 million dollars.” (December 16, 2020, Charlie Angus Press Conference) “to get a $12 million contract because you wrote to Bill Morneau and you knew him, that is not how government should operate” (December 16, 2020, Charlie Angus Press Conference) “that Craig could write directly to Bill Morneau and say, “Hey, Bill, how's your family?”, and ask for $12 million and get it 11 days later, seems to me to be a pretty staggering inside track that I haven't seen anywhere else.” (December 12, 2020, ETHI) “He (Craig Kielburger) pitches it directly to the minister, and then 11 days later it gets approved. Isn't that an extraordinarily short time to approve a project of this nature?” (December 4, 2020, ETHI) “They (WE Charity) sent him (Minister Morneau) a personal email on April 10 and 11 days later got a $12-million deal” (November 13, 2020, ETHI) “…a friend of the Morneau family contacts him directly and asks for 12 million dollars and 11 days later it’s granted.” (Dec 16, 2020, Charlie Angus Press Conference) “…this time for the approval of a $12 million contribution for a Social Entrepreneurship initiative. What is also striking about this is that speed in which this occurred, only 11 days from the proposal arriving in his office to his decision.” (November 17, 2020, Letter from Charlie Angus to Ethics Commissioner) “And that message Craig was asking for Bill Morneau to sign off on a $12 million grant. And within a mere 11 days, the finance minister gave a verbal sign off on this funding.” (March 8, 2021, ETHI) “This was handled by Craig Kielburger, a $12 million side deal negotiated by two besties.” (March 8, 2021, ETHI) “… said to our committee that she was not involved at all in the negotiations of this $12 million proposal.” (March 8, 2021, ETHI)

The $12 million program Mr. Angus repeatedly refers to was never approved by the Cabinet/the Government of Canada. There was no payment made to WE in relation to that proposal in any amount. As senior Department of Finance official Michelle Kovacevic told Mr. Angus in committee testimony, “In terms of when the proposal was approved, I would remind committee members that on the date of the announcement of the student package [April 2]. . .there was no approval by the Prime Minister or the Minister of Finance for anything related to WE.” Not only was the program never approved, it was certainly not approved in “11 days” as Mr. Angus repeatedly, and falsely, stated. The proposal was for a youth social entrepreneurship program that would have served 8,000 youth in a 12-month span and was, contrary to Mr. Angus’s false assertion, directedly related to the pandemic. Had Mr. Angus taken the time to look at the document he would see the title of the proposal was “Closing the COVID 19 Opportunity Gap for Young People through Social Entrepreneurship” with the program itself focused directly on creating opportunities for youth in response to the pandemic.

“You would have been director of government relations.” (February 26, 2021, ETHI) “Would it have been common for Craig to have reached out himself when you were actually the director of government relations?” (February 26, 2021, ETHI) “…not you as a director of government relations?” (February 26, 2021, ETHI) “You, as director of government relations, were not involved at all.” (February 26, 2021, ETHI)

Sofia Marquez testified before the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics (ETHI) on February 26, 2021 that in July 2018, she took on the newly created role of Director of Government and Stakeholder Relations - working with all levels of government, foundations, corporate, and non-profit partners. Mr. Angus has consistently mispresented Ms. Marquez’s role by purposely misstating her title as Director of Government Relations. Even when corrected, seconds later Mr. Angus continues this falsehood during committee meetings

“He received it from Craig Kielburger, someone who hired his daughter, someone who had flown him around the world, and it's listed in there that he approved it.” (December 4, 2020, ETHI) “Would you not agree that these kinds of relations, with people are being flown around and feted and gifted....” (November 27, 2020, ETHI) “…the Kielburger group had flown Bill Morneau around the world” (December 16, 2020, Charlie Angus Press Conference) “Bill Morneau’s daughter was hired by WE, he was flown around the world by them…” (December 16, 2020, Charlie Angus Press Conference)

Mr. Morneau’s daughter, who came to Canada from Uganda in 2010 after being sponsored by the Morneau family, became involved with WE Charity as a volunteer (i.e. unpaid) in 2019. She then became a facilitator in WE’s Ecuador operation before returning to Canada for a full time role as a WE Schools Coordinator. In all instances, she was hired through WE’s standard hiring process run by the Human Resources department (not by Craig Kielburger) and her salary was the same as other employees at her level. Regarding flights, all international flights and related expenses to Kenya and Ecuador were paid directly by the Morneau-McCain family. In July 2020, Bill Morneau contacted WE Charity in order to pay the highest possible amount that could have been incurred for arranging similar visits. This was estimated at $41,000 for all family members to stay at the charity’s Kenya and Ecuador project sites. To be clear, these did not represent actual expenses incurred by WE Charity, but represented the absolute maximum costs that could be incurred for such trips by the same number of people.

“It was the Kielburger brothers who insisted on coming before committee.” (November 9, 2020, ETHI) “…it was the Kielburger brothers who insisted on coming before the committee” (March 1, 2021, Evan Solomon Show)

The FINA Committee demanded that the founders of the charity testify, and they complied with the Committee’s request. The Kielburgers did not request, let alone “insist”, to testify. On July 27, 2020, the FINA committee passed a motion giving Craig and Marc Kielburger less than one day’s notice that they were required to appear for at least four hours: “That Craig Kielberger and Marc Kielberger appear before the committee for no less than 4 hours on Tuesday, July 28 …”

“But having to put those explanations on the record in televised hearings appears too much for them. So they have gone to ground.” (March 8, 2021, ETHI) “We cannot be obstructed in this work just because the central people in the drama do not want to be accountable.” (March 8, 2021, ETHI)

WE Charity co-founders Craig and Marc Kielburger confirmed months ago their willingness to voluntarily testify at the ETHI Committee, and their appearance was scheduled for on March 8th. WE Charity co-founders have always welcomed the opportunity to discuss the Canada Student Service Grant, including the unfortunate reality that 100,000 students and volunteer organizations lost the opportunity to benefit because of the politics surrounding the program. The week prior to the Kielburgers’ scheduled appearance at the committee, Mr. Angus formally requested an investigation by the RCMP and CRA of WE Charity for political purposes, creating a significant barrier for their testimony in certain areas. This put WE Charity in an unfortunately challenging legal position. As a result, WE Charity’s counsel asked for legal standing at the committee to allow him to engage in the committee proceedings, as necessary, to ensure fairness. Despite the significant unfairness of Mr. Angus’ conduct, WE Charity co-founders are testifying on March 15th. This is in addition to a previous four-hour testimony in July 2019 (the longest in the 43rd Canadian parliament), additional testimony by WE Charity representatives, thousands of pages of documents released to government, and answering approximately 5000 media questions.