Trudeau government giving $84 million to Chief of Staff’s husband’s company

MCAP, one of Canada's largest private mortgage companies, employs Robert Silver, who serves as the company's Senior Vice President. The company was selected to administer commercial rent relief for small businesses across Canada during the initial roll out of the government's pandemic relief policies.

Silver's LinkedIn reveals that the MCAP position is his first in the private sector since leaving Crestview, a government relations firm. He left in October 2015, having cited his wife's job as the prime minister's chief of staff, The National Post reports.

The Prime Minister's Office assured Canadians in a statement, saying that Telford had recused herself from any decisions surrounding MCAP.

“This screen applies to anything related to MCAP and it has been diligently followed since it was implemented. Ms. Telford has not been involved in any discussions related to MCAP,” the PMO told The Post.

The policy, which would provide loans to hundreds of thousands of small Canadian businesses, had an estimated value of $84 million.

The PMO says that Telford had no part in choosing MCAP due to her familial ties with the company.

“CMHC consulted with two financial institutions with experience in servicing commercial mortgages and requested proposals with estimated costs for the delivery of CECRA. MCAP presented a stronger proposal and the lowest cost of the two, which led to the execution of a contract agreement with CMHC,” MCAP spokesperson Audrey-Anne Coulombe said in a statement.

The perceived conflict of interests situation with Telford is surely the last thing Trudeau government wants on its back, as the fallout of the WE Charity scandal is still not fully understood.

Trudeau will likely be served his third ethics violation, as the prime minister attempted to grant a $900 million contract to a charity that had previously paid sums of money to members of Trudeau's family and cabinet.