Trudeau government drops $912-million contract with WE Charity

Trudeau government drops $912-million contract with WE Charity

National Post

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The Trudeau government has decided to yank management of a $912-million contract from WE Charity in a “mutually agreed upon decision” after a week of controversy.

“While WE Charity launched the program and saw over 35,000 applications within the first week, including 64% of applicants identifying as visible minorities, 23% from rural Canada, and 10% individuals from LGBTQ2 communities, moving forward they will not be managing the program,” minister Bardish Chagger said in an email.

· Ethics commissioner monitoring stories of Liberals' WE Charity grants, while Tories call for procurement ombudsman review
· Sean Speer: Opposition to WE Charity shows Tories lack a basic theory of statecraft

On June 29, the National Post reported that WE Charity had received five sole-source contracts from the federal government since 2017 worth a total of $120,000, according to public records.

Four of the five contracts were in the last 15 months, with the most recent one (January 2020) being the largest at $40,000.

Contracts are considered sole-source when they are handed directly to a specific supplier, without giving a chance to other organizations to provide competing bids.

In addition, WE Charity has received $5.2 million in grants and contributions from the federal government since 2017. That’s five times the amount received between 2012 and 2016, public records show.

“This is a mutually agreed upon decision,” the government said. “The Government of Canada and WE Charity will work together to ensure that the volunteers who have applied and been placed won’t be adversely affected. WE Charity has also decided to return any funds that had already been received.”

More to come

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