THE Conservatives ion Friday called for a criminal investigation into Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to hand almost a billion-dollar contract to a charity that not only had close ties to the Liberal Party, but which paid his family almost $300,000.

Michael Barrett, Conservative Critic for Ethics, said in a statement: “Not only did Justin Trudeau not recuse himself from the decision to hand almost a billion dollars to WE Charity, we know now that the organization paid his family almost $300,000. It is clear that a criminal investigation is warranted. As such, Conservatives will be writing to the RCMP to encourage them pursue this case.
 
“The Trudeau Liberals cannot hide from this scandal. Every single Cabinet Minister must answer for their part in approving this massive contract. Did they know that the Prime Minister’s family had a financial relationship with WE Charity? Would that have changed their position on awarding the organization a sole-sourced contract? Do Ministers or their family members have financial relationships with WE Charity? Canadians deserve answers.
 
“Parliament must immediately be recalled so that Opposition parties can ask questions and get to the bottom of this. The Finance Committee and the Government Operations Committee must accelerate their investigations. The Ethics Committee must immediately be reconvened to hear witness testimony. The Trudeau government must immediately hand over all of the documents related to this contract. The Ethics Commissioner must accelerate his investigation. The Auditor General and the Procurement Ombudsman must investigate. No stone can be left unturned.
 
“Justin Trudeau has already been found guilty of accepting a paid vacation on a luxury island. He was found guilty for his involvement in the SNC-Lavalin corruption scandal. Now, he is under investigation for the third time in three years. As they say in baseball, three strikes and you’re out.
 
“Every single Liberal Member of Parliament needs to look themselves in the mirror and decide if they are comfortable with Justin Trudeau being the leader of their party given his scandal-plagued track record.
 
“Conservatives will continue to hold the Prime Minister and his government accountable. We will not rest until Canadians have answers.”

FEDERAL NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, said that Canadians deserve to know the truth and need to know this won’t happen again.

He said: “From the beginning of this crisis, we’ve seen Justin Trudeau move at a record speed to help the very rich and well connected, while some of the most vulnerable people, like seniors and people living with disabilities are told to wait.

“On one hand he gives his well-connected friends at WE, an almost billion dollar contract, when people living with disabilities are still waiting for any help at all.
“We see time and again that he says nice things in public, but behind closed doors he gets to work for the wealthiest.

“To find out that the PM’s mother, brother and wife have been paid hundreds of thousands by this organization and the PM then gave them a billion dollar contract is more than disturbing. And this is a pattern of behaviour with Mr. Trudeau. This is the third time he’s been personally investigated by the Ethics Commissioner for potentially breaking ethics rules.

“The PM, his office and cabinet need to cooperate fully with the Ethics Commissioner and must waive cabinet confidentiality so the Commissioner can truly get to the bottom of this.”