Ottawa/Fraser Valley (with files from Angus Reid/ Huffington Post/Wikipedia) – The We Charity controversy is an ongoing political scandal that involves the awarding of a Government of Canada contract to the We Charity in order to administer the proposed Canada Student Service Grant program.
The contract has since been cancelled.
In a nutshell – In 2020, the federal cabinet selected WE to administer a payment program for the Canada Student Service Grant program, a $900 million volunteer program, for a contract worth $19.5 million. The decision raised questions about the charity’s ties to the Trudeau family and why the federal public service could not administer the funds as part of their regular mandate. Conservative MP Dan Albas raised concerns about accountability, stating that the private charity could not be audited by the Auditor General of Canada. Previously, the charity had received $120,000 in at least five federal government contracts and $5.2 million in grants and contributions under the Trudeau government from 2017 to 2020.
Many well known celebrities spoke at We Day functions across Canada including Prime Minister Trudeau’s mother, Margaret as well as Sarah McLauchlan and Peter Mansbridge. The most notable motivational speaker was consistent, Spencer West, who was born without a lower torso. All speakers received some form of a stipend.
Every fall in Vancouver, thousands of Middle and Senior school students bus into Vancouver for a day of motivational speakers. (The FVN story from 2019 is here.)
That may end.
The Province of Alberta Schools are reviewing their participation in their events.
FVN and chillTV asked both the Abbotsford and Chilliwack School Districts, for their reaction.
Rohan Arul-pragasam, Interim Superintendent for the Chilliwack School District told FVN: We will review this later in August with the senior team, as well as inform the Board with any changes in regards to our relationship with the charity with more info to follow.
