Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will testify Thursday about his government’s now-cancelled decision to award WE Charity — which has ties to the Trudeau family — a contract to manage a $900-million student grant program.
Trudeau is scheduled to appear before the House of Commons finance committee to explain his role in the decision. The committee will also hear from his chief of staff, Katie Telford.
The Liberal government has been under fire from opposition parties since it was announced last month that WE Charity would run the program. How did we get to this point? Here’s a breakdown of the controversy.
What was the agreement between the federal government and WE Charity?
On June 25, the federal government announced that WE Charity would administer the Canada student service grant (CSSG), a $912-million program previously promised by Trudeau as part of $9 billion in COVID-19 financial aid for post-secondary students.
The program was to be a way of giving students who couldn’t find summer jobs a chance to earn some money while volunteering in “national service” activities related to fighting the pandemic.
WATCH | Trudeau apologizes for handling of WE Charity government contract:
Power & Politics speaks to Minister of Youth Bardish Chagger about the latest details of the government’s controversial agreement with the WE Charity to run a student volunteer program. Also on the show, Raptors’ head coach Nick Nurse on his efforts to encourage Americans expats to vote in the upcoming U.S. election. 1:47:23
WE Charity would have been responsible for connecting tens of thousands of students with volunteer opportunities and issuing grants based on their volunteer work.
How does the Canada student service grant work?
The CSSGconnects post-secondary students and recent graduates with volunteering opportunities in exchange for between $1,000 and $5,000, depending on the number of hours worked.
For every 100 hours worked, a student is eligible for $1,000, which means someone must volunteer 500 hours to receive the full grant.
The program opened June 25 and runs until Oct. 31. Only students and recent graduates 30 years of age and younger can enrol, and they must register no later than Aug. 21 to be eligible to receive the grant.
WE Charity was started by human rights advocates Marc and Craig Kielburger in 1995. It is the non-profit arm of WE, which operates educational and social justice programs in Canada and internationally. Me to We is the organization’s for-profit social enterprise.
The contract awarded to WE Charity to run the program was set up as a contribution agreement between WE Charity and the government and not through a competitive process.
Watch | Documents reveal new details of the WE Charity agreement:
The Conservatives are calling for a second ethics investigation into Finance Minister Bill Morneau over the $41,000 in travel he received from the WE organization in 2017. 1:46
Youth Minister Bardish Chagger has said that Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) recommended a third party administer the grant “given the scope and scale of the program” and the “urgent need to deliver this new program,” and that ESDC’s recommendation was the third party be WE Charity.
In testimony to the House of Commons finance committee on July 16, Gina Wilson, Chagger’s senior associate deputy minister, said that in a partnership agreement like the one it had with the charity, the government sets performance measures and audits the results but “does not direct or dictate how the recipient will carry out the project.”
What was the value of the contract?
According to the text of the agreement signed June 23 between Chagger’s office and the WE Charity Foundation, $43.53 million would have been allocated to the WE Charity Foundation for administering the CSSG.
Up to $8.75 million of that $43.53 million was eligible to be shared among the partnering charities and non-profit organizations that supervised the volunteers.
Why are Trudeau and his government being criticized for the contract?
Shortly after the Liberal government announced it was awarding the sole-source contract to WE Charity, it came under fire from opposition parties over the Trudeau family’s close relationship with the organization.
Neither Trudeau nor Finance Minister Bill Morneau — who also has family ties to WE — recused himself from cabinet discussions on awarding the contract. Opposition politicians have accused the Liberal government of playing favourites and choosing to reward the organization.
WE Charity co-founders Craig, left, and Marc Kielburger, far right, introduce Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau, at WE Day celebrations in Ottawa in 2015. Trudeau is scheduled to appear Thursday at a House of Commons finance committee. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
How is the Trudeau family associated with WE Charity?
Trudeau and his mother, Margaret, have appeared at a number of WE Day events, while Trudeau’s wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, hosts a podcast for the group called WE Well-being.
Initially, WE Charity said members of the Trudeau family were not paid for appearing at WE events, although Grégoire Trudeau had been reimbursed for travel expenses.
Why is Finance Minister Bill Morneau also facing criticism?
Like Trudeau, Morneau is under scrutiny for not recusing himself from cabinet talks about awarding WE Charity the contract. Morneau’s daughter, Grace, works at WE in the travel department. His other daughter, Clare, has spoken at WE Day events.
Morneau faced further criticism after he revealed to the House of Commons finance committee on July 22 that WE Charity covered $41,000 in travel costs for him and his family in 2017 for trips to Ecuador and Kenya to view the organization’s humanitarian work.
Morneau said he didn’t realize he hadn’t personally repaid WE for the travel, and that he repaid the costs that morning.
Watch | Conservatives want 2nd ethics probe of Morneau’s WE ties:
Craig and Marc Kielburger appeared before the Commons finance committee Tuesday. 0:38
How did the federal ethics commissioner get involved?
The federal ethics commissioner is investigating the WE contract after Conservative and NDP MPs contacted the office raising concerns about the relationship between the charity and the prime minister’s family.
Commissioner Mario Dion said he will be investigating Trudeau under subsection 6(1) of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Act, which prohibits public office holders from making decisions that further their own private interests or the interests of another person.
Trudeau also is being investigated under sections 7 and 21 of the act, which deal with giving someone preferential treatment and failing to recuse oneself from any matter that would present a conflict of interest.
How has the Liberal government responded to the criticism?
Trudeau initially defended the partnership, saying WE was the only group with a countrywide network capable of operating a program on this scale for young people. Other charitable organizations have questioned that assertion.
On July 3, citing the ongoing controversy, WE and the Liberals announced a parting of ways and the federal government took control of the program.
On July 13, Trudeau apologized for not recusing himself from discussions about WE because of his family’s longtime involvement with the organization. Morneau also issued an apology.
Where does WE Charity stand after the contract’s cancellation?
WE Charity announced on July 11 it had laid off hundreds of contract workers who were brought in to administer the CSSG. According to the Toronto Star, which first reported the story, the charity laid off 450 workers, while giving 15 others full-time positions.
On July 15, WE Charity issued a statement saying that it had decided to “refocus on [its] mission” by concentrating on international aid. It said it would cancel WE Day events going forward, “reflecting the realities of COVID-19,” and launch an organizational review to “streamline the WE organizational structure.”
Watch | ‘There are days when we just wish we hadn’t answered the phone on April 19’: Craig Kielburger:
Craig and Marc Kielburger, founders of the WE Charity, spoke to MPs on the Commons Finance committee Tuesday. 12:00
On Tuesday, WE co-founder Craig Kielburger testified to the House of Commons finance committee that the charity agreed to administer the student grant program because it wanted to make a difference — not because it wanted to make a profit off the deal. He refuted rumours that WE Charity was in financial trouble when it agreed to take on the program.
What is happening with the Canada student service grant now?
After the contract with WE Charity was cancelled, Trudeau said the federal government will simply distribute the grants itself, but that young people might not have the same opportunities as when WE was involved. “Certainly there are certain things that we will not be able to do as government delivers this program directly,” he said.
In an interview on Monday with CBC’s Power & Politics, Chagger, the youth minister, said the government has not ruled out scrapping the program entirely.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
