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WE have a problem - Last week, the federal government announced it would flow more than $900 million to a 4-month student volunteer program, via @WEMovement Let’s unpack why this is a poor and highly irregular use of public dollars #wehaveaproblem
At nearly $1B (!) there is no transparency as to how WE Charity was selected for the admin of this project. There appears to have been no tender and minimal consultation; the government’s own announcement suggests the project was sole-sourced to WE Charity. #wehaveaproblem
$912M for WE Charity's delivery of CSSG is significant % of Federal funding during the pandemic. $350M is committed to the charity sector overall to support COVID-19 recovery & $25M will be distributed over 5 years to provide assistance to Black community orgs. #wehaveaproblem
Effectively deploying volunteers is challenging . As a result of a chronic lack of funding for digital infrastructure and skills, most nonprofits are struggling to manage remote staff. An added challenge of onboarding & managing volunteers will be burdensome. #wehaveaproblem
The timeframe to execute this program is, at best, improbable. In 2018, it took 12 months for over 12.7 million Canadians to volunteer an average 125 hours. This program is expected to run for 4 months, and engage 100,000 students who will volunteer for 500 hours. #wehaveaproblem
The nonprofit sector is a critical infrastructure for the delivery of care and essential services. It is experiencing mass employment and chronic underfunding. Using nonprofit infrastructure to address student and youth unemployment is tone-deaf and ill-advised. #wehaveaproblem
The fed govt must 1/Commit to complete transparency on the use of funds 2/ Redeploy funding directed to WE Charity to re-prioritize paid work thru mechanisms like Canada Summer Jobs 3/Mandate allocation of funds to equity-seeking groups. #wehaveaproblem
There is still time to act and do better. Sign on to support a better distribution of this funding. Let’s take this $900 million and make sure it goes to work, and not harm, for students across Canada and communities in need. https://bit.ly/3idQ2bF
#wehaveaproblem
#wehaveaproblem
@_kevindonovan - this feels right up your alley
