PM defends decision to use WE for students

WE Charity only group capable of running COVID-19 volunteer program

OTTAWA — Justin Trudeau defended Friday employing WE Charity to administer a $900-million federal student aid program, despite the group’s ties to the prime minister and his wife.

Trudeau said the decision to use WE was made by the non-partisan public service, not by him.

WE will administer the Canada Student Service Grant that provides eligible students with up to $5,000 for volunteer work with non-profit organizations helping to cushion the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The government said Friday it has allocated $19.5 million to cover administrative costs. Of that amount, $5 million is for non-profits to provide volunteer jobs for students, including $300,000 for accessibility supports.

The program is supposed to place up to 20,000 students in volunteer positions between now and October, and will only count hours accumulated during that time, leaving out anything done since the pandemic started. The grants will range from $1,000 to $5,000, depending on the amount of time spent on volunteer work.

The decision to go with WE raised conflict-of-interest concerns for Trudeau and some negative reactions on Twitter from some corners of the charities sector.

Trudeau said delivery of the grant program demanded an organization able to reach the tens of thousands of students the government hopes to help with the program.

“As the public service dug into it, they came back with only one organization that was capable of networking and organizing and delivering this program on the scale that we needed it, and that was the WE program,” he said.

Youth Minister Bardish Chagger said it’s not unusual for the government to outsource such work, noting the United Way is tasked with dispersing emergency COVID-19 grants to non-profits and charities.

WE directed questions to the government.