WE Charity could have received as much as $43 million for meeting the commitments it agreed to when it took on the administration of a $900 million student grant program — more than twice the sum previously announced — a federal cabinet minister said today.
WE Charity could have received as much as $43 million for meeting the commitments it agreed to when it took on the administration of a $900 million student grant program — more than twice the sum previously announced — a federal cabinet minister said Thursday.
Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth Bardish Chagger revealed the $43.53 million figure before the House of Commons finance committee.
Initially, the federal government said WE Charity would get $19.5 million for administering the grant program, with $5 million of that going toward not-for-profits to help them with administration costs. The first payment to WE Charity was intended to create 20,000 volunteer placements.
Chagger said today an additional $10.5 million would have been made available to WE to help smaller not-for-profits participate in the program, and another $13.53 million would have been given to WE to create an additional 20,000 volunteer placements, if necessary.
The deal between WE Charity and the federal government has since been dissolved.
Chagger is being questioned by MPs about her government’s decision to award WE Charity the contract despite the organization’s close ties to the families of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Bill Morneau.
“The non-partisan and professional public service made a clear recommendation that WE Charity was the organization that was able to deliver this program in the timeline that was needed,” Chagger said.
Under questioning, Chagger said that the program was not left to the public service to administer because it already had its hands full rolling out billions of dollars in financial supports related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chagger said that she did not talk to Trudeau, Morneau or anyone in the Prime Minister’s Office about the program before presenting it to cabinet. She also said she was not directed by the PMO to choose WE Charity as the government’s partner. She said that the recommendation came from senior assistant deputy minister Rachel Wernick.
Under questioning, Wernick said that the federal government needed a third party to help deliver the program that had “massive reach and scale and the ability to mobilize the whole country.”
‘The best available option’
Wernick said that other organizations