Trudeau’s Covid-19 Spending Programs Wasted Billions, Audit Finds
- Watchdog flags C$32 billion in potentially misspent benefits
- Reports cites ‘lack of rigor’ in payment verification process
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government may have overpaid as much as C$32 billion ($23.5 billion) in Covid-19 benefits during the pandemic largely due to a lack of post-payment verification, the federal auditor general said.
The spending watchdog found that of the roughly C$211 billion in benefit payments, C$4.6 billion were sent to ineligible recipients and an additional C$27.4 billion should be investigated further.