WE. What in earth is going on?

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Justin tried to give one billions dollars t his favourite youth chairity. Who had no in the ground apparataus. Let alone the issue of paying people to volunteer
 
Lastpointe said:
Justin tried to give one billions dollars t his favourite youth chairity. Who had no in the ground apparataus. Let alone the issue of paying people to volunteer
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I am pretty sure no laws were broken (the Liberals are generally careful about staying on the right side of that line) and it will be purely an ethics issue. Which means that the voters will decide, which is as it should be.
 
I havent really followed this.....so WE wont take any money off the top and 5000 dollars is to be given towards post secondary education? The amount given to students will be determined by how much the student has volunteered. Is that correct?
Who should have got the grant IYO? United Way, volunteer Canada,.....? How much of the total sum goes to administration for WE compared to other organizations if they received the money? Where will most of it go?...... for students, for admins? Whats wrong with volunteering to receive grant money IYO? Dont some students also earn credits this way?
 
If this turned out to be the best place(WE) for the money to be placed, is it still a problem just because of Trudeau's affiliation?
 
I hadn't heard of Canadaland - so it was interesting to read about its principal Jesse Brown in Wikipedia. An important lesson my mom taught me long ago - always consider the source when you read or hear anything. These days it's hard to know who to believe sometimes, or to sort out what axe they are grinding.
 
Carolla said:
I hadn't heard of Canadaland - so it was interesting to read about its principal Jesse Brown in Wikipedia. An important lesson my mom taught me long ago - always consider the source when you read or hear anything. These days it's hard to know who to believe sometimes, or to sort out what axe they are grinding.
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I think it would be interesting to hear some of the stuff though, and then it's something to look into more. A good way to get a lot of details in an easy format (listening while soaking in the bath, for example) to get one of the perspectives.
 
Lastpointe said:
The last few days have only made it more confusing. I have no issue with WE as an organization. The issue is this unusual arrangement. They are reporting that teachers are being recruited for $12,000 to mentor students doing volunteer work. And WE is “hiring” these student volunteers to do media on line. That is not quite like delivering food boxes

and they are getting paid $19,000,000 which makes no sense

either you are a volunteer helping out, or you are a minimum wage employee. But this is a $10/ hour sort of job. So is that taking a minimum wage job away from someone ?

the connection with the trudeaus makes it very questionable . .

both opposition parties are asking for investigations
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No, it sounds more like a subsidized internship/ work experience program. Probably a good thing since young people need better opportunities, and experience using in demand skills. I don't have a problem with either expense - CERB is fine too - not sure what the scandal is with WE, unless there's public upset that maybe they arbitrarily gave a contract to WE but didn't offer one to any other organizations, or didn't have an application process for contracts. I don't know the details enough.
 
I do find it a little funny this is the one volunteer thing that's been mentioned for a while that allows particular students (does exclude many) to get federal funding. WE was how Sophie ended up getting COVID whether the event itself or related travel.
 
ChemGal said:
I do find it a little funny this is the one volunteer thing that's been mentioned for a while that allows particular students (does exclude many) to get federal funding. WE was how Sophie ended up getting COVID whether the event itself or related travel.
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Who does it exclude? Does it cater to the rich or kids that need a grant because they need help financially?
 
Waterfall said:
Who does it exclude? Does it cater to the rich or kids that need a grant because they need help financially?
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Directly does it cater to rich kids? No. It certainly doesn't help many of those who could use it the most.

The Canada Student Service Grant program is facing criticism from some in the voluntary sector who say it is blurring the lines between unpaid volunteering and paid work by offering compensation equivalent to $10 an hour, which is below the minimum wage in all provinces. Students between the ages of 15 and 30 will receive a grant of $1,000 for every 100 hours of volunteer service, up to $5,000 for 500 hours.
 
Kimmio Laughterlove said:
No, it sounds more like a subsidized internship/ work experience program. Probably a good thing since young people need better opportunities, and experience using in demand skills. I don't have a problem with either expense - CERB is fine too - not sure what the scandal is with WE, unless there's public upset that maybe they arbitrarily gave a contract to WE but didn't offer one to any other organizations, or didn't have an application process for contracts. I don't know the details enough.
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the arrangement with WE is done. And that is a good thing. The issue of paying people to volunteer is still sketchy to me. That isn’t volunteering

as to whether they can deem it an internship? No they can’t. At least not in Ontario. There are strict labor laws about unpaid work, internships, supervision and paying people less than minimum wage at all

you can’t hire someone as an “intern” as a way to pay them less than minimum wage. And you can’t hire “interns” to replace actual workers.
 
ChemGal said:
I think it would be interesting to hear some of the stuff though, and then it's something to look into more. A good way to get a lot of details in an easy format (listening while soaking in the bath, for example) to get one of the perspectives.
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I agree - I think it's always important to look at a variety of news sources before forming opionion and/or taking action.
 
Lastpointe said:
The issue of paying people to volunteer is still sketchy to me. That isn’t volunteering
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It's part of the emergency measures financial support, as far as I understand it. These are students who would be otherwise working at summer jobs - not eligible for CERB, but the gov is trying to send some financial support their way. Rather than have them sit home & collect the funds, the 'volunteer' positions are put into place. These are positions that would not exist as 'jobs' but can be of great help to various organizations and the wider community - and to the students too in terms of gaining exposure to options and experience for their CV.

If you think this a bad concept/method - what would you suggest as an alternative way for the gov to support the students who normally rely on summer income during a time when such jobs are pretty non-existent?
 
Carolla said:
It's part of the emergency measures financial support, as far as I understand it. These are students who would be otherwise working at summer jobs - not eligible for CERB, but the gov is trying to send some financial support their way. Rather than have them sit home & collect the funds, the 'volunteer' positions are put into place. These are positions that would not exist as 'jobs' but can be of great help to various organizations and the wider community - and to the students too in terms of gaining exposure to options and experience for their CV.

If you think this a bad concept/method - what would you suggest as an alternative way for the gov to support the students who normally rely on summer income during a time when such jobs are pretty non-existent?
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1) Why the selective criteria for which students are allowed to receive money?
2) Why was it planned for 1 charity which focuses so much abroad when there are issues here. What about the food banks which are struggling? Or the volunteering the med students are doing (and there are those over 30) who are getting groceries and other items so that people do not have to venture out themselves? What about the volunteers working with the homeless population during a pandemic which involves quite a bit of extra work than usual? What about those who volunteer with someone more community based that works with any limitations they may have?

I think students should have just been able to access CERB if over 18 and cannot get employment. Why should it matter if most of their income before this was paid out as a bursary or they were doing full time studies year round to get through school faster to earn their career income sooner?

I haven't been a fan of most voluntourism for a long time. I did watch the show on it and I'm pretty sure at the time I thought it was odd how it was mentioned what WE does is ok - I didn't really even pay attention to the 'who' at the time. I think there way better organizations to support if we are to give money to volunteers. I also think picking just one is odd and is going to result in the same issues as employment - they only have room for so many volunteers.
 
The government gives contracts to non-profits for youth employment and work experience programs, normally. It helps give opportunities and extra life skills training. So this was not that different. One can argue that during covid is not the time - but they're going to be further behind when this is over and the world has changed, then comfortable retirees who've stayed healthy and don't need to get back on their feet, for example. They're not just starting out in this rather intimidating world. Youth need programs to help them.
 
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When I was 18 I joined a job finding course. It was for 18-25 yrs old or something. It wasn't specifically for people with disabilities. We got paid $100 a week for 4 weeks or something like that. It was slightly less than min wage sat the time as per hours spent in class.it was government funded. I got a retail job from it. It was also one of a few inspirations I had to go bank to school later and do that kind of work, with a focus on oportunities and advocacy for people with disabilities. That didn't pan out long term but I don't regret it.
 
Kimmio Laughterlove said:
When I was 18 I joined a job finding course. It was for 18-25 yrs old or something. It wasn't specifically for people with disabilities. We got paid $100 a week for 4 weeks or something like that. It was slightly less than min wage sat the time as per hours spent in class.it was government funded. I got a retail job from it. It was also one of a few inspirations I had to go bank to school later and do that kind of work, with a focus on oportunities and advocacy for people with disabilities. That didn't pan out long term but I don't regret it.
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That's vastly different though than a CERB replacement. Jobs are fairly limited. Large numbers of the workforce are off or reduced pay.
 
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