Canadian news media outlets are now very publicly confirming that the office of Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper is the source of information used to attack Liberal opposition leader Justin Trudeau.
At issue are fees paid to Trudeau for speaking engagements at different charities and causes that he was paid for.
The initial one involves the Grace Foundation charity in the Atlantic coast province of New Brunswick. Last week several media outlets reported that the Foundation was asking for its money back after a event last year failed to raise sufficient funds.
Government ministers and MPs last week attacked Trudeau for “lacking any decency” for not reimbursing the charity. As the story evolved, some media outlets mentioned information had come from the Prime Minister’s Office. Others mentioned that the charity had links to the ruling Conservative government.
Toronto Star journalist Susan Delacourt in an interview with RCI Tuesday (June 18) said a number of outlets, including her paper, appear to have been contacted by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) with additional information. They were told not to mention the source of the information, before the PMO sent the information.
Monday, as the media reported Trudeau promised to reimburse money to any charity that asked for it, Laurie Watt wrote an article in the Barrie Advance about how a member of the Prime Minister’s office sent information to the paper about a speaking engagement of Trudeau in the city of Barrie in 2007, even before he had become an MP.
She wrote the paper was sent the information with the “caveat it be referred to as coming from a “source,” not the PMO, when used.”
Watt described the situation further and her communications with PMO communications officer Erica Meekes::
“The material included invoices, a promotional poster and an accommodation receipt for the Toronto Four Seasons. Meekes wrote, “To be fair, there is an in-house yoga studio at the Four Seasons!”
“When asked in a telephone interview why Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office was sending out unsolicited documentation, Meekes said the PMO routinely reaches out to the media.
“This is the first time, however, such financial information was released to The Advance from the PMO.
“Normally, such work is the purview of partisan researchers.”
Since the publication of the article, other media have now reported on the efforts by the Prime Minister’s Office to fuel the Trudeau charity story.
On Tuesday, government MPs in the House of Commons continued to attack the Liberal leader for accepting fees for speaking engagements.
In February, the Ottawa Citizen reported that Trudeau had cleared the payments for his public appearances with Canada’s federal ethics commissioner.
More information:
Laurie Watt/ Barrie Advance article – PM’s office sends details of Trudeau’s talk at Georgian – here
CBC News – Conservatives accuse Justin Trudeau of profiting from not-for-profits – here
Ottawa Citizen – Ethics commissioner A-OK’ed Justin Trudeau speaking events as MP – here
Kady O’Malley – The (Not So) Purloined Letter: Who tipped off PMO to the Grace Foundation complaint? – here
Susan Delacourt / Toronto Star – The PMO, the journalists and the whole off-the-record thing – here
Aaron Wherry/ Maclean’s – How did the PMO get involved in the matter of Justin Trudeau and the Grace Foundation? – here
RCI – A journalist’s dilemma: Info ‘off the record’ from PM’s office, interview with Susan Delacourt (audio) – here
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