WE began work before cabinet approved deal WE CHARITY CONTRACT SCANDAL
Documents show charity started weeks before PM briefed on student grant program
WE Charity began working on Ottawa’s student volunteer grant program weeks before the federal cabinet approved the deal, newly released documents reveal.
A copy of the contribution agreement between the government and the charity showed that WE officially began working on the Canada Student Service Grant (CSSG) on May 5.
Federal cabinet met to discuss the program — and ultimately approve WE Charity — on May 22.
WE told the Star Monday that the charity made the decision to begin the work immediately due to the tight time frame to launch the program by the beginning of summer.
“The decision was made with the full knowledge and co-operation of (Employment Social Development Canada) and WE Charity, and further the agreement by WE Charity that any costs incurred would be the sole responsibility of WE Charity if the program was not formally approved,” the charity wrote in a statement.
The deal, which would have given young Canadians grants of between $1,000 and $5,000 for volunteering during the COVID crisis, has become a headache for the Liberal government after Trudeau’s family ties to WE Charity led to questions about possible political favouritism. Finance Minister Bill Morneau, whose family also has ties to the charity, now faces an ethics investigation for approving the deal. The document — combined with what is publicly known about the timeline leading up to WE’s involvement with the program — indicates the charity was already well into the work before Trudeau was formally briefed about the $912-million grant program on May 21, one day before the cabinet meeting.
That’s unusual, according to former parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page. However, Page said the decision to begin work on the program before cabinet signed off might be justified as an emergency measure — the decision was made at the height of pandemic fears.
“Could the decision and the process to make the decision (including questions about conflict of interest have been) strengthened by a cabinet discussion and approval? Yes,” Page said.
WE confirmed Monday afternoon that it had began incurring “eligible expenses” for running the program on May 5, weeks before Trudeau’s chief of staff, Katie Telford, stressed the need for due diligence on the partnership to senior public servants.
The deal with WE was finalized on June 23 followed by a government announcement on June 25. WE would have been paid up to $43.5 million.
But after the deal fell through in the face of public scrutiny on July 3, WE said it would return any public funds it had accepted to run the grant program.
The contribution agreement was one of a batch of documents released to the House of Commons’ finance committee, which is probing the government’s now-reversed decision to partner with WE on the student grant program. Trudeau and Telford are scheduled to testify before the committee on Thursday.
Included in the documents is an April 22 email from WE cofounder Craig Kielburger to Rachel Wernick, a senior public servant at Employment and Social Development Canada responsible for the CSSG program. Wernick had reached out to Kielburger three days before to gauge WE’s interest in running the program.
In the email, Kielburger said WE could have the program up and running and accepting students by late May.
“I appreciate your outreach to inquire about my thoughts and whether we would be interested to be involved in such a national youth service program,”
Kielburger wrote.
“Allow me to share with you a proposal informed by our conversation together, which seeks to address some of the concerns that we both share, and outlines a viable solution that can reach 20,000 young Canadians with opportunities for summer service and to earn income for post-secondary studies.”
Kielburger went on to outline his proposal: a three-month program serving 20,000 Canadians ages 16 to 30 with “digital service opportunities,” training and support, and a system of tracking and reporting the volunteer’s accomplishments.
Kielburger also proposed a “digital national celebration of service showcasing the accomplishments of young people” — something akin to the organization’s WE Day events retailored to the COVID-19 era.
WE’s pitch was roughly in line with what became the CSSG program.
Trudeau now faces an ethics probe over his participation in that cabinet debate, despite his family’s ties to the organization and his past participation at WE-hosted events. Morneau, whose family donated at least $100,000 to the charity since 2018 and has accepted free trips from WE, faces a similar probe.
The documents show the government contacted or considered 20 other groups — including the United Way, Volunteer Canada, and the YMCA — before deciding WE was the “best and only” organization capable of running the CSSG program.
The House of Commons’ finance committee will resume its investigation into the WE deal on Tuesday when the charity’s co-founders, Craig and Mark Kielburger, are scheduled to testify.