Finance Committee on July 16th, 2020

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Thank you, both.

[Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Thank you, Ms. Speevak.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

That's no problem, Ms. Gaudreau.

Mr. Fragiskatos, you'll be wrapping it up.

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Ms. Speevak, for being here and for the work that you are doing and that the organization has done.

I want to pick up on this topic of incentives. I take your point that you would hope that volunteerism would be based on an understanding of goodwill and calling folks to service just because of the need to give back, that there shouldn't be an incentive to draw them towards volunteering, that there shouldn't be an incentive in place and that we should act on a very different sort of ethic. I understand that argument, but isn't it fair to say that COVID-19 is a unique phenomenon, a unique experience, that has given rise to many new and unprecedented social challenges and economic challenges. Can we really count on the goodwill of people to step forward and fill all the various needs that exist?

I mean, many will do that just because they want to contribute. Many existing volunteers, for example, would do that, but what happens when we have all these challenges that exist? Wouldn't an incentive like the one that was built into the Canada student service grant serve a good purpose in attracting many young people to get involved in their communities and, if they were to get involved, perhaps to understand more about the importance of volunteering, an understanding that maybe they didn't have before? What do you think of that kind of argument?

[Paula Speevak]

I think you're correct in saying that the pandemic has really caused us all to question what we consider to be a normal state of affairs, absolutely. In the case of the needs in communities, it can be handled in two ways: one, provide more funding for student jobs to fulfill the needs in communities so that people are paid a decent wage and are working part time or full time through a program; and two, make volunteer opportunities available.

I don't think they need to be put together in the way that has been suggested. I think we could have decent wages and good work opportunities that are meaningful to help out in the pandemic and make volunteer opportunities, where they exist, available as well.

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

Ms. Speevak, in that case, then, are you of the view that Volunteer Canada could have ensured that there would be, say, 100,000 placements of young people to volunteer? That was the intent of the Canada student service grant program. Could Volunteer Canada have helped ensure this for the Government of Canada if they in fact were the organization chosen to administer the program rather than WE?

[Paula Speevak]

My view is that there isn't the need for 100,000 placements in non-profit organizations, from what I've been hearing from colleagues in various regions. Again, I'm not speaking for all organizations or all communities. There is certainly still a need. What I did hear since the launching of the program, and from those who were being approached prior to the program being launched, is that people were feeling pressure to create opportunities that were not necessarily essential or things that were furthering their mission, but really were to fulfill the requirements of a program that needed placements for students. It isn't, in my view, the way the non-profit sector and anyone ought to be interacting that it needs—

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

Here is my last point.

The needs are great, though. I know you've heard from others that 100,000 placements wouldn't be needed, but I can tell you that I hear from organizations in my community that are in desperate need of volunteers. That's just the few organizations that I've talked to over the past couple of weeks. London is a big city, but it's not the biggest. If I'm hearing it in London, we can be sure that other communities are faced with the same sort of concerns. I don't want to belabour the point, though. You hold that position and I might respectfully disagree with that.

The last point I want to put to you is really an important one. It's about reach. If Volunteer Canada was the organization working with the government to help find opportunities for young people and to help place young people in pure volunteer roles along the lines of what you would hope for, with no incentive but just pure volunteer roles, what would be the reach of Volunteer Canada? What would be the number of young people your organization would be in contact with?

WE, I understand, has the ability to reach out to about two and a half million young people. It also has ties to around 7,000 schools across the country. Does Volunteer Canada have that kind of reach? Is it comparable or not?

[Paula Speevak]

Just to make it clear, Volunteer Canada wasn't presenting itself as having the capacity to implement the program in any way, and nor did we question.... As I said at the beginning, our issues were with the program itself, not the selection process and not the selection of WE Charity as a—

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

No, I understand that. I'm just trying to understand this whole question. One of the questions that's at play here is why the WE organization was selected and why public servants decided to advise that WE should be chosen. If that's the question, then there's another question, logically: Was there another organization well placed to carry out the administration of the program? WE apparently has the ability to have a huge reach. I'm just wondering about Volunteer Canada's reach.

[Paula Speevak]

Once again, we were not considered or considering administering the program. I can't comment on the capacity of other organizations and how many others could have had the capacity. I can simply comment, as I am, on the philosophy and values that we had concerns about—

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

Respectfully, Ms. Speevak, I'm not making the point—

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

We'll have to end it there. We're well over.

With that, Ms. Speevak, we certainly want to thank you. I think one key point you made was about the generosity of spirit of volunteers, and we certainly see that across Canada. I know we see a lot of it in P.E.I. Thanks for appearing. Thanks for the work that your organization does, as well.

Thank you, to committee members, for the questions you've asked today and the research you've done, and certainly to the analysts and the clerk. A series of meetings in July is not the usual thing, but here we are, and we will do it again on the 21st, when we'll have the Clerk of the Privy Council as a witness at that point, among others.

With that, thank you all. Again, thank you, Ms. Speevak, for coming and answering our questions.

To all the members, have a good weekend.

The meeting is adjourned.