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MPs vote to issue summons for Kielburger brothers to testify at ethics committee

OTTAWA — Members of the House of Commons ethics committee have unanimously voted to summon WE Charity co-founders Craig and Marc Kielburger to testify.
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Marc Kielburger, screen left, and Craig Kielburger, screen right, appear as witnesses via video conference during a House of Commons finance committee in the Wellington Building in Ottawa on July 28, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

OTTAWA — Members of the House of Commons ethics committee have unanimously voted to summon WE Charity co-founders Craig and Marc Kielburger to testify.

Last week, they declined requests to do so, a fact that MPs from all parties expressed concerns about on Monday.

A summons from a Commons committee has legal force, and the motion gives the brothers until Friday to appear.

The Commons ethics committee wants to hear from the Kielburger brothers as part of ongoing scrutiny of a federal agreement to have WE manage a now-cancelled student services grant program.

But the charity had noted that New Democrat MP Charlie Angus has requested that the RCMP and the Canada Revenue Agency investigate WE’s operations.

The charity said it would be unfair to subject it to what it called a partisan committee investigation at the same time.