Trudeaus tied to charity handling federal program
Move sidesteps public scrutiny, Conservatives warn
OTTAWA • Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says an organization 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 hours done until Oct. 31.
The WE charity is tied to the prime minister’s wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, who is a WE ambassador.
Grégoire 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.
“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.
Despite its ties to his wife and himself, the prime minister did not indicate any concern about a perception of conflict of interest or favouritism toward WE.
He also said that the federal government would only be covering the costs to administer the program, and that the charity would not be making any profit from running the CSSG.
But the decision to outsource the CSSG was met with concern by the Conservatives, who fear it will make the program’s administration impossible to scrutinize.
“When the Federal Government ‘outsources’ the delivery of a grant program it effectively does an end run around transparency and Parliament as NGO’S are not subject to the same federal ATIP information requirements. This is deeply concerning,” Conservative MP Dan Albas tweeted.
“Journalists cannot use ATIP. MPS cannot review this spending at committee. The Auditor General will not be able to audit it. Trudeau Liberals will not even disclose the contract details. So much is wrong here,” he added on social media Friday.
Trudeau also revealed that all remaining members of the Canadian Armed Forces 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 in one home in Ontario and four in Quebec.
But since Quebec is only in the beginning steps of training 10,000 new health- care 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.
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.
“One of the things that is very clear is that our current system of supporting our seniors across this country has not worked. It is a provincial responsibility, so it is them who have failed to support our seniors,” Trudeau said. “We want to respect provincial jurisdictions but I think we know things need to change.”
He was then 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.
That ranks Canada among the worst of all OECD countries, where the average is 42 per cent.
THE AUDITOR GENERAL WILL NOT BE ABLE TO AUDIT IT.