Ministry mum on who was in running with we

OTTAWA • The federal government claims it considered “various” organizations to administer its $900million volunteer student grant before handing the contract to We Charity, but refuses to disclose how many or who they are.

Since the government revealed nearly two weeks ago that the Canada Student Service grant (CSSG) would be administered by We Charity — an organization with close ties to prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family — it has often repeated that the organization was the “best and only one” for the job.

despite that claim, We Charity pulled out of the deal last Friday after a week of controversy surrounding both how it received the CSSG contract and its management of the program.

Trudeau then announced that the government would take over the grant program that will pay eligible volunteers between $1,000 and $5,000 for work done until Oct. 31, 2020.

But the department responsible for the program, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), refuses to answer repeated questions from National Post about which other organizations were considered.

“Given the challenges students are facing as a result of COVID-19, there was a desire to get the Canada Student Service Grant program in place as quickly as possible to help students affected by these unique circumstances. As part of its strategy, ESDC considered several parameters and various not-forprofit (NFP) organizations that could be in a position to deliver such a unique initiative,” an ESDC spokesperson responded on two different occasions last week.

The department did not explain why it would not provide a list of the “various” organizations it considered.

The lack of transparency is both surprising and unjustifiable for public sector transparency advocates.

“There is no good reason to keep that information secret. It’s key to have that information disclosed to ensure that the public’s money is spent efficiently and effectively in every situation,” Democracy Watch cofounder Duff Conacher said.

James Cohen, Transparency International Canada’s executive director, says that when there is urgency to spend millions of taxpayer dollars to deliver a program, more transparency is required, not less.

“Yes, there is the need for speed and expedited processes. But we’ve raised awareness on the fact we can’t skip over transparency and accountability when we talk about this amount money,” Cohen said. “Given the circumstances and given the scrutiny on due diligence, the government would do well to explain themselves for this contract.”

According to ESDC, the nature of the student volunteer grant program required it to find one single organization that could orchestrate it all, rather than a collection of smaller non-profit groups.

Department spokesperson Megan Fulton confirmed the government briefly considered running the CSSG through its existing Canada Service Corps program, before concluding that wasn’t feasible.

“While expanding the program was considered, we learned through engaging with (the national partners delivering the program) that many not-for-profits were also experiencing difficulties carrying through with planned placements and pivoting to the virtual environment,” Fulton said.

From that point on, some of the features that set WE Charity apart from the other not-for-profits were its “large scale reach” extending to 2.4 million young Canadians, its “extensive network and infrastructure,” its connections to other not-for-profits and its ability to operate digitally.

But neither Conacher nor Cohen believe the government’s claim that WE Charity was the only organization that was able to administer the $900-million program in the first place.