Charities are Not our Friends: WE Corruption Rocks the Trudeau Government
Photo Caption: (CBC / Google Images)
Written by: Daniel Xie
As reported by the National Post, WE Charity has recently pulled out of a $912 million contract with the Trudeau government to administer the Canada Student Service Grant. This was a federal program paying students up to $5,000 for volunteer work done over the summer. It will now be handled by the federal government. This is due to a week of controversy faced by WE charity.
Prime Minister Trudeau, in response to WE charity pulling out of the contract, said he understands why WE pulled out of the contract. He claims that government aid won’t be as effective, noting that supposedly, directly searching for volunteers for the program was something WE could have done much better. Earlier on, Trudeau has claimed that WE Charity was the only organization that could deliver the program on the scale that is needed. The program has since been placed under the responsibility of the federal government.
A History of Corruption
WE charity, formerly founded as “Free the Children” by youth activists Marc and Craig Kielburger in 1995, has been tied to various controversies. This March, WE laid off the majority of its staff. On July 1, 2020, a CBC report revealed that that the chairs of WE Charity’s boards of directors in Canada and the U.S. both resigned in the spring.
WE charity was mired in controversy even further back in 2018. A report by Canadaland revealed that WE charity has promoted brands made through child labour, even though it was originally created to fight child labour. Brands that were supported and promoted by WE included: Hershey’s products containing cocoa, farmed by child labourers in West African countries, along with Kellogg’s products containing palm oil harvested by Indonesian child labourers.
WE is involved in a partnership with Unilever, a major purchaser of palm oil produced through child labour. They’ve also partnered with DOW, whose subsidiary in Bhopal, India, was responsible for both the worst chemical accident in India, and the development of Agent Orange and Napalm in Vietnam. None of these business practices seem to be of any concern to WE, which continues their partnerships on the guise of promoting sustainability and feeding the children.
A more recent report by Canadaland on July 3, reveals that criminal activity and fraud were perpetuated by the leadership of WE’s Kenyan operation in 2017. Through a recording that was obtained by Canadaland, it was discovered that WE co-founder Marc Kielburger overheard his a senior employee, Peter Ruhiu, describe in detail how he paid off Kenyan government officials who were investigating Free The Children, their main charity branch in Kenya, for various corrupt business practices.
In the recording, Ruhiu explained to Kielburger that one of their employees in Kenya, former Senior Director Santai Kimakeke, accidentally turned one of the government investigators against FTC. Ruhiu claims that because of Kimakeke’s actions, the entire country and the entire Kenyan government will be at their throats. Ruhiu said he could “take care” of Kimakeke with just one call if he wished. This revealed that the executives at WE were perfectly willing to threaten the lives of their employees, if they exposed their corrupt dealings to the public.
Ruhiu was terminated and charged by Kenyan police with a variety of crimes. According to Howard Winkler, counsel for WE Charity, investigation into Ruhiu’s criminal behavior restored the integrity of the organization. Through given the recent string of controversies, along with WE’s willingness to carry out business deals with shady corporations involved in Child labour in the Global South, this claim couldn’t be further from the truth.
Incriminating Ties
It has been revealed that WE charity has essentially been paying off family members of those in the Trudeau government, to maintain ties with it. The corruption and controversy it seems, runs deep, with the entire Trudeau family perhaps embroiled in a corruption scandal rooted in their rather close relationship with the WE.
A recent report by Canadaland on July 9 indicated that WE have been paying Margaret Trudeau, Justin Trudeau’s mother, as well as his brother Alexandre Trudeau, to speak at WE charity events. Margaret Trudeau was paid $250,000 in honoraria for speaking in 28 events, while Alexandre Trudeau was paid about $32,000 for speaking in 8 events. The PMO confirmed that the prime minister's wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, "received $1,500" for participating in a WE event way back in 2012. It stated that Trudeau has not receive any funds from WE.
Already, a Federal Ethics Commissioner is investigating the WE contract to administer volunteer grants after concerns from NDP and Conservative MPs. This is the third conflict of interest that Trudeau was investigated in by the Federal Ethics Commissioner: for the SNC-Lavalin affair and the Trudeau family vacation to the Aga Khan’s private island in 2016. For both instances where Trudeau was found in violation of the federal Conflict of Interest Act.
According to NDP MP Charlie Angus, who filed the conflict of interest complaint, areas of concern justifying another investigation included the Trudeau family’s close ties with the WE organization. He also noted that the group has “received a series of single-source contracts” from the government, that Angus perceived as a significant breach of the public trust.
Further links between the family members of Trudeau government figures and WE was noted by Canadaland. They revealed that Bill Morneau’s daughter, Claire Moreau, has spoken in events hosted by WE in the past and was supported by WE co-founder Marc Kielburger when she published her first book in 2016. WE charity insists that they have not paid her speaking honorariums.
Another daughter of Morneau, Ugandan Grace Acan, is a current employee of WE charity. Acan became part of the Morneau family after being sponsored by them to come to Canada from northern Uganda in 2010. She started working there in August 2019 as a coordinator on ME to WE Trips, and later transitioning transitioned to the WE Schools team as a coordinator in March 2020. Bill Morneau had previously provided money for WE operations, announcing $3 million in federal funding to WE for its “social entrepreneurs” program in 2019.
Private charities are not our friends
Corrupt charities and corporations are not our friends in providing socioeconomic aid for both children in the Global South. WE charity has been recently engaged in scandal after scandal involving corrupt business practices in other countries. It has been giving payments to family members of Liberal cabinet ministers on their payroll so the government would provide favorable policies for them. All while negotiating deals with companies all too happy to exploit the labour of children in the Global South, that WE claims to be protecting.
Through their financial payments to members of the government, WE almost assumed responsibilities in providing support for volunteer programs. In reality, the government should run the programs themselves via public funding. Funding for initiatives such as grants to volunteers should be acquired through a tax on the rich.
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