Certain members of Parliament played an outsized role in fuelling misperceptions about the charity and its operations—chief among them was Conservative member of parliament Pierre Poilievre.
Opposition Member of Parliament
Certain members of Parliament played an outsized role in fuelling misperceptions about the charity and its operations—chief among them was Conservative member of parliament Pierre Poilievre.
It’s no surprise that Conservative attack dog Pierre Poilievre was front and centre in trying to attack WE Charity and the Kielburgers in a proxy attack against his real target, Justin Trudeau.
It was clear that Pierre Poilievre’s playbook was along the lines of ‘the more you can smear WE Charity, the worse it will look for Justin Trudeau.’ And smear he did. But he did so knowing he had full legal immunity for anything he said in the House of Commons or Parliamentary Committees because of the power given to him by Parliamentary Privilege, a form of legal immunity that protects members of Parliament and Senators from being sued for what they say in the House or during Committee meetings.
During committee meetings, Pierre Poilievre acted like a schoolyard bully to witnesses, attacking and insulting them, interrupting and repeatedly threatening them. At one point the Chair of the committee warned he would shut down hearings if Pierre Poilievre continued his antics and personal attacks.
Pierre Poilievre worked closely with Charlie Angus as lead critics from the Right and Left, with Poilievre becoming the official leader of the opposition shortly thereafter. Neither Charlie Angus nor Pierre Poilievre would have been able to get away with their attacks without the veil of Parliamentary Privilege providing them legal immunity from false statements.
Viciously attacked WE Charity and the Kielburgers in a proxy war against Justin Trudeau.
Hid behind his Parliamentary Privilege (legal immunity) to voice false statements attacking the charity.
Bullied and insulted witnesses in a manner unbecoming of a Member of Parliament.
Pierre Poilievre would regularly use his status as an elected official to bully and harass WE Charity Canada cofounders and staff. In this case, he threatened to have the cofounders arrested by a ceremonial figure in parliament called "The Sergeant-at-Arms" if they did not show up to answer his questions. WE Charity representatives spent over 9 hours answering parliamentary questions, whereas the Prime Minister only appeared for 90 minutes of questioning before leaving for a vacation.
Pierre Poilievre and Charlie Angus sit at polar opposite ends of the political spectrum and often disparaged each other, until they teamed up to attack WE Charity in Canada for political purposes. Both have had leadership ambitions - Pierre Poilievre became leader of the official opposition shortly after his attacks on WE Charity in Canada (Charlie Angus had previously come second in the NDP leadership race).
The book What WE Lost tells the story behind Pierre Poilievre’s proxy war against Justin Trudeau. Through vicious attacks on a children’s charity to try and bring down a Prime Minister – the book details how WE Charity became a casualty of Pierre Poilievre’s disgraceful conduct.
Martin Luther King III gives voice to the story behind Pierre Poilievre’s proxy war against Justin Trudeau and his vitriolic attacks against WE Charity.
