Charlie Angus, MP
Opposition Member of Parliament
Few politicians have displayed more hypocrisy or grandstanding theatrics in recent years than NDP MP Charlie Angus during the WE Charity controversy. Charlie Angus repeatedly misstated facts, inflated numbers and made wild accusations – all to attack a children’s charity that his own children had volunteered for. He even worked in coordination with journalists, especially Jesse Brown and Natalie Obiko Pearson to destroy the charity in Canada, regularly sending them confidential information and draft parliamentary reports before they were published.
The most egregious display of this hypocrisy was that he fully aligned his attacks with Conservative attack dog, Pierre Poilievre. The supposed ‘man of the people’ from Northern Ontario decided to use his position and platform and Parliamentary Privilege to destroy a successful Canadian charity that supported students and teachers in North America and some of the most disadvantaged women, children and workers in the developing world.
In this spirit, through the help of Natalie Obiko Pearson, Charlie Angus brought Las Vegas television personality Reed Cowan before the Ethics committee to deliver a series of false statements about him raising millions of dollars for WE Charity and false statements that the funds never went to the schools.
But few knew that behind the scenes, Reed Cowan had sent a letter to WE Charity demanding $20 million USD to buy his silence. No Canadian media has ever reported on the threat, despite it being covered by the Washington Post.
Angus also repeatedly demanded WE’s CFO, Victor Li, appear in person to testify before the Ethics committee even though MPs were informed behind closed doors that Li had recently been diagnosed with a brain aneurysm. But Charlie Angus was unmoved downplaying Mr. Li’s condition accusing him of lying about “being sick” and accusing the whole organization of having “a sense of entitlement.”
Kate Bahen from Charity Intelligence uses questionable tactics while operating a non-profit
What you should know
If Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had simply recused himself from involvement during the cabinet vote for the program, the entire WE Charity “scandal” would have been avoided. Justin Trudeau later apologized for not recusing himself. Nine months later, Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion cleared Justin Trudeau of any wrongdoing, but it was too little too late. It is not WE Charity's responsibility to manage the Government of Canada's perceived conflicts of interest.
See original mediaJustin Trudeau's comment that WE Charity was “the only organization in Canada” capable of delivering the program harmed, rather than helped, the situation from WE’s perspective. His statement shifted the spotlight from the government procurement process—which opposition politicians and the media had every right to scrutinize—to the charity. Justin Trudeau only appeared for ninety minutes of questioning before leaving for a vacation. Conversely, WE Charity representatives spent over 9 hours answering questions from Members of Parliament.
See original mediaEven though he formerly served as Minister of Youth, Justin Trudeau did not protect Canada’s largest youth organization, taking no personal responsibility for the organization’s downfall and showing no moral courage to speak up. He left tens of thousands of students without summer income thanks to his mishandling of the CSSG. Although he promised an alternative solution once WE Charity proactively removed itself from the program, he broke that promise as well, letting students down because it was more politically convenient to do so.
See original mediaCharlie Angus in the Press
The NDP’s Charlie Angus and The Decline of Canadian Politics.
Article by The Seeker
People Like Charlie Angus Are Part of the Problem of Toxic Politics. Not the Solution.
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Farewell, Charlie Angus. We’ll Clean Up the Damage You Caused.
Article by Fair Press