Conservatives say Bill Morneau broke law by accepting trips from WE, call for resignation

OTTAWA – The federal Conservatives are claiming federal Finance Minster Bill Morneau broke the law, after revealing he and his family accepted trips from the WE Charity three years ago.

This comes as opposition parties call on the federal ethics watchdog to widen his probe of Morneau regarding the organization.

Conservative MP Michael Cooper says accepting the trips as a minister is a clear breach of the Conflict of Interest Act. Tory finance critic Pierre Poilievre echoed the sentiment, saying the trips violated several sections that prohibit ministers or their families from accepting paid travel.

Morneau appeared before a House of Commons committee investigating the WE scandal on Wednesday and revealed that he had just repaid more than $41,000 in travel charges to the organization following trips with his family to visit WE sites in Kenya and Ecuador.

WE said the Morneau family trips were meant to be complimentary, part of a practice of showing donors WE’s work to encourage them to give more.

The Conservatives are continuing their push for the finance minster to resign his ministerial post.

However, the NDP’s Charlie Angus believes it is too early in the process to be calling for resignations.

“Let’s get all the answers. Let’s put this whole thing in a clear picture for Canadians and then we’ll make our decisions,” Angus says.

The controversy began when the WE Charity was awarded a government contract to run a $900 million student volunteer program.

In his letter to the ethic’s commissioner, Angus said Morneau’s trips bring “to another level” concerns about the finance minister’s involvement in handing WE a contract to run the multi-million dollar student program.

Meanwhile, in a rare move, Trudeau has agreed to testify before the House of Commons Finance Committee. The time and date have yet to be set.

The prime minister’s chief of staff, Katie Telford, is also expected to testify.

-With files from The Canadian Press

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