Government has right to keep info from MPs, top civil servant tells committee probing WE Charity – By Brian Platt & Christopher Nardi (National Post) / Nov 25 2020
Privy Council Clerk Ian Shugart told the finance committee he’s confident document redactions were made on a non-partisan, professional basis by public servants
OTTAWA — Federal ethics commissioner Mario Dion says he’s received thousands of pages of wholly unredacted government documents related to the WE Charity scandal as he investigates the matter for conflicts of interest.
Dion made his remarks on Tuesday to the House of Commons finance committee, which has been trying to get access to a similar trove of unredacted WE documents. But the committee also heard from Privy Council Clerk Ian Shugart, who told them the government has the right to withhold certain information from MPs whether they like it or not.
The two officials testified on issues around redactions and the WE documents, a subject that has effectively paralyzed the committee since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau prorogued Parliament last summer.
The WE scandal began last June when the government announced a controversial and now-defunct deal to have WE Charity administer a student volunteer grant program. Neither Trudeau nor then-Finance Minister Bill Morneau recused themselves from the decision, despite family financial ties to WE that later came to light.
