PM, WIFE HAVE LINKS TO GRANT ISSUER

Trudeau says charity ‘only one’ up to the job

OTTAWA • Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says an organization that he and his wife have worked with and that was chosen to administer the federal government’s COVID-19 student volunteer grant program is the “only one” able to do so.

“The WE organization is the only organization in Canada that has the scale and the ability to deliver volunteer opportunities for young people right across the country at all levels of organizations,” Trudeau said during his daily press briefing on Friday.

The prime minister was referring to the announcement Thursday that the federal government had outsourced the administration of the new Canada Student Service Grant (CSSG) to WE charity.

The program, estimated to cost over $900 million, will send between $1,000 and $5,000 to eligible post-secondary students who complete volunteer work. Recipients will receive $1,000 per 100 hours of eligible volunteering done until Oct. 31.

The WE charity is tied to the prime minister’s wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, who is a WE ambassador.

Sophie Trudeau came down with flu-like symptoms in March after returning from a trip to London, England, where she spoke at an event for WE Day. She later tested positive for COVID-19.

On Friday, the prime minister also admitted to having done volunteer work for the charity in the past, but said the decision to outsource the CSSG to WE was made solely by the public service. He did not say if his wife would cut ties with WE going forward.

“We needed to have a partner to help establish the networks and to deliver that with all partners across the country. And 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,” Trudeau said.

“Yes, I have worked with WE in the past because I believe strongly in promoting opportunities for young people. I think I appeared in events with them, voluntarily of course,” he added.

The prime minister did not indicate any concern about a perception of conflict of interest or favouritism towards WE. He also said that the federal government would only be covering the costs to administer the program, and the charity would not be making any profit from running the CSSG.

During the same press conference, Trudeau revealed that all remaining Canadian Armed Forces members still stationed in long-term care homes in Quebec and Ontario would be leaving in the next few days. As of Friday, the military was assisting

YES, I HAVE WORKED WITH WE IN THE PAST ... I THINK I APPEARED IN EVENTS WITH THEM.

in one home in Ontario and four in Quebec.

But since Quebec is only in the beginning steps of training 10,000 new healthcare workers for its homes — referred to as CHSLD — the prime minister said the Red Cross would be stepping in to fill the void left by exiting military members.

Thanks to a $100 million subsidy to the Red Cross, Trudeau said the organization would be able to send 900 people to assist in CHSLDS. A first wave of 150 workers would arrive in the province by July 6, with the remaining 750 beginning work by July 29.

“The situation in CHSLD has greatly improved. The needs are not the same as two months ago. That is why, over the course of the last weeks, we worked with Quebec to develop a transition plan that will allow us to transition operations from military personnel to civilian personnel,” Trudeau said.

His announcement comes one day after he criticized the provinces for having “failed to support seniors” all the while opening the door to imposing national standards on long-term care homes and facilities.

He was reacting to a report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information, which found that 81 per cent of all COVID-19 deaths in the country had been recorded in long-term care centres.