Finance committee  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 Char

Finance committee  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—

Finance committee  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

Finance committee  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 la

Finance committee  I'm not sure I understand the question. I'm sorry.

Finance committee  In Canada and in many countries around the world, we are really fortunate that people are very generous of spirit, particularly in emergencies and difficult times. An abundance of individuals have stepped forward, willing to volunteer. As I mentioned, many systems have been set u

Finance committee  My sense is that, again, when we look at the three things that seemed to be put forward as good intentions—helping communities in need of volunteers, helping students in need of funds and making volunteer opportunities accessible to youth—those are three things that many of us wo

Finance committee  For sure. In terms of providing grants to students, I think that students can apply for the grant, indicating their need, and if part of the program then includes saying to students that this allows you the time to do a number of things, including attending to family, helping ou

Finance committee  The definition of volunteering has evolved, for sure, but essentially when somebody assists others outside their household without financial compensation and for the public good, that's considered volunteering. Over time there's been an acceptance that there's a spectrum of inv

Finance committee  Volunteering is done on a voluntary basis, absolutely, yes.

Finance committee  Yes, except that was before the pandemic. As I mentioned, as the pandemic emerged, organizations either closed or cancelled activities and moved to more virtual services, that significantly decreased.

Finance committee  There are a few aspects of your question that I could address. The first one is that there's no question that students want financial assistance, and this is one of the ways, one of the opportunities, that was offered for students to receive assistance. It is certainly understan

Finance committee  As I mentioned earlier, there are many elements of that program that Volunteer Canada does not have expertise or experience with. Therefore, from the beginning, we did not have in mind its being something that we would be offering to administer. Our assumption was that it was goi

Finance committee  No, I don't know. I don't know what happened with us.

Finance committee  If I could clarify one of the things about the network of 200 local volunteer centres, the reason this is an important model to us is that in each community where there is a volunteer centre, that centre knows the organizations. Therefore, when they post an opportunity on their s