Thanks for defending Kielburgers and WE

A great big “thank you” to Andy Stillman and his family foundation for the full-page advertisement in the Oct. 31 Citizen. Finally, someone has the guts to stand up and say the emperor has no clothes. The WE charities founded by the Kielburgers did nothing wrong in what many with purely political motives are trying to label a scandal.

Yes, the Trudeau family was involved with WE — because it is an excellent organization. I don't know if their travel expenses were paid for or an honorarium. I care that WE is the best thing that has come along in Canada to inspire and serve young people since Opportunities for Youth and the Company of Young Canadians. Thousands of Canadian kids have been inspired to become involved in charitable work. And in Africa and elsewhere, thousands have been helped to achieve better lives.

Stillman and his foundation hired forensic accountants and a former deputy solicitor general to comb through the WE books and concluded there was no wrongdoing in the selection of WE to administer the Canada Student Service Grant program. Among the five conclusions the examining team came up with, and perhaps the most important, is that “Marc and Craig (Kielberger) are volunteers who never profited from WE Charity. In contrast, (they) are among the most generous financial supporters of WE Charity.”

Yet these two gifted men have had their names and that of their charity dragged through the mud. Why did not the media take on the job done by Stillman to uncover the truth of the story, rather than just reprint the mud being slung at WE?

The press has done a terrible thing in failing to uncover the real story. The media and the Conservative party owe the Kielburgers a huge apology. Let's get WE going again so it can continue its excellent work with youth of the world.

Patty Deline, Ottawa