Canada’s Trudeau apologizes for ‘mistake’ amid charity uproar

OTTAWA: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized on Monday for taking part in a cabinet decision to use a charity he and his family have worked with to administer a $900 million ($663.4 million) student grant program. Trudeau, 48, is facing a third investigation for conflict of interest in a little over three years after his government tapped WE Charity Canada on June 25 to manage the program. The charity backed out about a week after the contract was announced. “I made a mistake in not recusing myself immediately from the discussions, given our family’s history, and I’m sincerely sorry about not having done that,” Trudeau said in a news conference. It is the second time in less than a year that the prime minister has apologized publicly for his actions in a live, nationally televised news conference. The first time was in September after decades-old images of him in blackface emerged.