WE Charity fiasco leaves our students out in the cold

In normal years, post-secondary school students would have sought summer employment at camps, recreational facilities and various tourist operations. For most of us, this year presents unique challenges in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic: travel has been restricted, the Canada-U.S. border has been closed to nonessential traffic, businesses have closed or have had to curtail their activities in the light of physical distancing requirements.

To address these changing circumstances, the Canadian government came up with the Canadian Student Grant program.

The ongoing controversy surrounding the awarding of the contract to WE Charities to administer this program has achieved what the prime minister had sought to avoid, namely, that thousands of students would be left without job opportunities and sufficient income this summer.

We may debate whether this program could have been set up differently, but summer is half over and students still do not have the opportunity to receive compensation for the envisioned 500 hours of volunteer service.

Where do the real interests lie — to make political gain or to address the needs of our young adults? Michael Nurse, Grand Valley, Ont.