It is not too late to use funds from the cancelled WE student service contract to create local jobs for students, according to North Island-Powell River MP Rachel Blaney.
That’s the message Blaney delivered in a letter to the federal ministers of finance, youth and employment.
In a media release, Blaney stated that while much of the attention around the WE scandal focused on the awarding of the contract and involvement of the prime minister and former finance minister in the process, it has also meant the Canada Student Service Grant (CSSG) failed to launch. In her letter, Blaney recommends reallocating all of the $900 million that was supposed to benefit students and community organizations to the Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) program.
The CSJ program was extended this year in response to COVID-19 to cover a greater share of student wages and to allow job placements to continue through February 2021, according to the media release.
“The initial [CSJ] grant allocation in my riding left nearly $750,000 of unmet demand from employers, representing good jobs for students that have not been created,” Blaney wrote in her letter.
“Using the CSSG funds to award additional Canada Summer Job grants could provide additional opportunities for the many students who aren’t returning to full-time studies in the fall for financial or health reasons,” stated Blaney. “It would support more local employers as they try to survive and recover from the impacts of the pandemic.”
