OTTAWA — Craig and Marc Kielburger are set to appear before a parliamentary committee later today as members of Parliament continue digging into WE Charity’s operations and a since-cancelled federal agreement to have it manage a student grant program.
The brothers’ appearance had been in doubt after an extraordinary back and forth with MPs last week over their conditions for responding to the committee’s summons.
The Kielburgers are scheduled to appear for three hours, when MPs are expected to grill them over the Liberal government’s decision last year to have them manage a multimillion-dollar student-volunteer program, which has since been cancelled.
That deal would have seen WE paid up to $43.5 million to run the program that would cover up to $5,000 in education costs for students who volunteered during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The program was eventually cancelled following allegations of a conflict of interest due to close ties between the WE organization and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as well as former finance minister Bill Morneau and members of their families.
Committee members are also expected to question the Kielburgers over WE’s overall operations, which include a number of different organizations spanning numerous countries and involve both charitable and for-profit activities.