The pandemic has a broad back

The pandemic has a broad back in Ottawa.

The Trudeau government has for several days blocked the reopening of committee investigations into the WE Charity affair, on the pretext that state resources must be entirely devoted to managing the COVID-19 crisis.

“We will continue to be focused on COVID-19. The Conservatives want to talk about petty politics, want to talk about WE Charity, ”pleaded Justin Trudeau at a press conference this week.

Circus

Several parliamentary inquiries fell last August because of the prorogation of Parliament. The opposition parties want to pick up where they left off. It is fair game, especially as legitimate questions remain.

Opposition parties are particularly keen to obtain receipts from a speaker bureau that hired the Trudeau family on behalf of WE Charity.

But the Liberals on the ethics committee are opposed to it.

For hours on end, they monopolize speaking time to save time, to exhaust the other members of the committee. This stubbornness doesn’t make this story smell better.

A real circus.

As a reminder, WE Charity, the Ontario organization with very close ties to the Liberal family, received $ 43 million to manage an emergency program of more than half a billion $.

An organization that, among other things, employed the Prime Minister’s mother and brother, who received a total of more than $ 350,000 in honoraria.

The same organization that also offered a luxury trip to the resigned ex-finance minister, Bill Morneau.

The Liberals have always argued that WE Charity did not get preferential treatment and that the decision to offer them this lucrative pandemic contract was the idea of ​​officials.

Much has been said on the subject. Thousands of pages of documents – many of them redacted – have been made public. Justin Trudeau himself testified, as did members of his entourage.

Small policy

Everyone agrees that nothing is more important than managing the pandemic. There are a thousand and one problems to be solved.

Parliament’s time and resources are not unlimited. But aren’t the 336 MPs able to walk and chew gum at the same time?

Apparently not.

Unless the Liberals are also guilty of playing politics …