Freeland Should Act As PM While Trudeau Investigated For WE Charity Deal: Blanchet

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needs to temporarily step aside and let his deputy, Chrystia Freeland, take over while he remains at the centre of another ethics investigation, the Bloc Québécois said Thursday.

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet made the suggestion shortly after it was first revealed by Canadaland that members of the Trudeau family were paid tens of thousands of dollars to speak at WE Charity events.

The Toronto-based international organization was selected by the government to administer a $900-million program through a sole-sourced contract. That contract has since been cancelled.

Earlier: PM defends WE Charity as only organization capable of running COVID-19 volunteer program. Story continues below video.

Blanchet told CBC’s “Power & Politics” the controversy unspooling around the prime minister indicates how it’s time to make a temporary change in government leadership.

“He cannot create a program which seemed to be custom-made, tailored for an organization that gave $250,000 of contracts to his mother, $30,000 of contracts to his brother, while his own wife is spokesperson for the same organization,” Blanchet said. “All of that is unacceptable.”

He added his party would offer “full collaboration” in Parliament with the Liberal minority government if Freeland temporarily takes over.

“Because for the time being, he cannot be considered as being qualified to keep doing the job,” he said of the prime minister, who is now being investigated by the federal ethics commissioner for the third time.

Blanchet’s endorsement for Freeland doesn’t come as a surprise. The...

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