The wife and daughter of Finance Minister Bill Morneau flew from Nairobi to WE’s Bogani compound when the two visited Kenya in the summer of 2017, Canadaland has learned.
The Conflict of Interest Act explicitly forbids ministers and their family members from accepting travel “on non-commercial chartered or private aircraft for any purpose,” with limited exceptions.
Marc and Craig Kielburger were directly questioned about the form of travel provided to the Morneaus in Kenya and Ecuador, when the brothers appeared before the Parliamentary Finance committee on Tuesday. When asked under oath if WE had provided Morneau’s family with private air travel, Craig Kielburger said, “We would have to check our records,” before explaining that when in Ecuador, the Morneaus travelled by complimentary motorized canoe, a form of transportation not explicitly forbidden by federal law.
Morneau’s office tells Canadaland that “the Minister’s wife and daughter took a flight from Nairobi to Bogani. Any questions on the flight should be directed at the WE organization.” They added that “all costs covered by WE, including transportation costs, were reimbursed by the Morneau family on July 22nd.”
A former senior WE employee says there is no airport at the Bogani compound, just a landing strip. “Only private charters could land at Bogani,” they say.
WE Charity did not immediately respond to questions from Canadaland.
The charity has previously described the Morneau family’s travel costs as “complimentary.”
Top screencap from CPAC’s video of the Kielburgers’ testimony.
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