Whether teaming up with members of the opposition party or accusing a man with a brain aneurysm of faking his illness, few sunk lower in their attacks than Charlie Angus during the CSSG saga.
Opposition Member of Parliament
Whether teaming up with members of the opposition party or accusing a man with a brain aneurysm of faking his illness, few sunk lower in their attacks than Charlie Angus during the CSSG saga.
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.”
Made over 100 false statements about WE Charity in a matter of weeks.
Brought a witness to the Standing Committee on Ethics and Conflict of Interest who lied and attempted to extort the charity for $20M.
Falsely accused WE Charity’s CFO of lying about having a brain aneurysm.
Ironically, Charlie Angus claims that Pierre Poilievre would do anything for short-term gain, showing great disdain towards him and his policies. Charlie Angus and Pierre Poilievre later teamed up as two prominent political figures alongside journalists to destroy WE Charity in Canada with political grandstanding and dishonest conduct.
This Tweet is demonstrative of the language and approach Charlie Angus uses as an elected official. He is prone to using profanity and demonstrating emotional instability in public communications, often on his official Twitter page.
Charlie Angus was regularly called out for sharing false information about WE Charity Canada. In this particular case, he quietly deleted a Tweet that shared false information but didn’t acknowledge or apologize for posting it. As an elected member of parliament, Charlie Angus and others enjoy "parliamentary privilege", a legal immunity in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made within in the course of their legislative duties. This means that under Canadian law, MPs can spread false information under the guise of democracy without being held accountable.
Tawfiq Rangwala is the #1 bestselling author of What WE Lost. Here, Charlie Angus reduces Rangwala's well-researched work, including nearly 500 footnotes, to a "tantrum". This is presumably because Charlie Angus did not like the factual contents of the book. Charlie Angus's false statements and dishonest conduct were meticulously documented by Rangwala, especially in1 andof What WE Lost.
Charlie Angus refers to a “**** ton of money” in relation to advertising for the What WE Lost book. The advertising was done by the publisher, Optimum Publishing International. This tweet once again shows Charlie Angus's crass approach, use of profanity, and emotionally volatile demeanor that he often directed at WE Charity.
Another example of Charlie Angus spreading false information and refusing to correct himself, even though the accurate information was already on the public record. The total value of the CSSG contribution agreement was up to $543.5M, not “nearly a billion dollars” as Charlie Angus consistently shared. Charlie Angus was aware of the correct information yet falsely stated the inflated number dozens of times because it served as a better soundbite.
Charlie Angus and Pierre Poilievre occupy polar opposite ends of the political spectrum and often attacked each other under normal circumstances, however, the unlikely duo then teamed up to attack and destroy WE Charity in Canada for their own political purposes. Both have had leadership ambitions - Pierre Poilievre became the leader official opposition shortly after the WE Charity saga. Charlie Angus had previously come second in the NDP leadership race.
Whether teaming up with members of the opposition party or accusing a man with a brain aneurysm of faking his illness, few sunk lower in their attacks than Charlie Angus during the CSSG saga. As What WE Lost details, Charlie Angus’s attacks were among the must reprehensible during the whole affair.
Listen to Martin Luther King III tell the story of Charlie Angus’ reprehensible conduct during the CSSG controversy – from unfounded personal attacks, to his unholy alliance with Pierre Poilievre, and bringing a witness accused of extortion in front of the Finance Committee.
