Saskatchewan premier says Trudeau should return $20K speaking fee to literacy group

REGINA – Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall won’t apologize for saying federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau should return $20,000 for speaking at a literacy conference in Saskatoon last year.

Wall says it’s inappropriate for a public official to accept a fee to speak at such an event when he is already paid to speak on matters of public policy.

The premier first made the comments in an interview with Global TV.

Wall says he noted in the interview that the speech came just before Trudeau decided to run for the Liberal leadership.

The Saskatchewan premier says he wondered if the money was used to help finance Trudeau’s leadership campaign.

Liberal House Leader Dominic LeBlanc demanded that Wall apologize for what he called a smear.