The former head lobbyist for the WE Charity said she had no clue about former Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s personal involvement with the group, said Blacklock’s Reporter..But “that just makes absolutely no sense,” one Tory MP told the Commons ethics committee..At the committee, Sofia Marquez said she knew nothing of We Charity’s dealings with Morneau..The committee was forced to subpoenaed Marquez after she twice refusing requests to appear for questioning..“I have nothing to hide. I am happily appearing before you as a private citizen to answer your questions honestly and to the best of my ability,” she said..Morneau awarded a $3-million grant to We Charity in his Toronto Centre riding in August, 2019..A month before, the group hired Morneau’s daughter out of college, and had covered $41,366 in expenses to bring the then-finance minister to resorts in Kenya and Ecuador..We Charity co-founder Craig Kielburger had Morneau’s cellphone number and sent him many emails signed, “Warmest, Craig.”.“Did you or any of your colleagues communicate with former finance minister Bill Morneau’s office in regards to that $3 million grant?” asked Conservative MP Colin Carrie (Oshawa, Ont.)..“I can’t recall,” replied Marquez..“I would appreciate firm clarification on that because at that time Mr. Morneau, I don’t know if you were aware, had an outstanding $41,366 still owed in unreimbursed travel expenses for his 2017 trips to Kenya and Ecuador for We Charity which the organization had paid for. Is that something you would have been aware of at the time?” asked Carrie..“I had no knowledge of that happening,” replied Marquez..“Ms. Marquez, I hope you don’t mind but that just makes absolutely no sense to me, that the director of government and stakeholder relations wouldn’t be aware of the unreimbursed expenses before receiving a $3 million grant,” said Carrie..“We Charity was clearly organized. So the only explanation I could have for that is you weren’t told because of incompetence within the organization, or because of willful ignorance.”.“The appearance of this is horrible. Mr. Morneau, $41,000,” said MP Carrie..“It’s a lot of money. Most Canadians would agree that’s a lot of money. And this could be perceived as an attempted bribe or one of those oversights which would affect his decisions. What was it in your organization?”.“I had no direct knowledge of any payments,” replied Marquez..Liberal MPs on the committee objected to the line of questioning from Carrie..“We just heard one of my honourable colleagues characterize some of your past work as a bribe,” said MP Francesco Sorbara (Vaughan-Woodbridge, Ont.)..“Point of order, Mr. Chair,” said Carrie..“To be very clear, I did not say it was characterized as a bribe. What I did say quite clearly is the fact the Minister of Finance still owed over $41,000 to We Charity could be perceived as a bribe.”.Morneau quit last August 17 after a power struggle with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He has since refused numerous requests to testify on We Charity disclosures..On July 30, the prime minister told the Commons finance committee Morneau never talked about his ties to We Charity at cabinet meetings..“No, I did not know particularly that he traveled with We Charity,” said Trudeau..“But you knew his daughter worked for We Charity?” asked Bloc Québécois MP Rhéal Fortin (Riviere-du-Nord, Que.)..“No,” replied the Prime Minister..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.Twitter.com/nobby7694
