New volume examines demise of WE Charity, co-founders Craig and Mark Kielburger, #volume #examines #downfall #Charity #co-founders #Craig #Mark #Kielburger Welcome to OLASMEDIA TV NEWSThis is what we have for you today:
Philosopher and theologian Ivan Illich wrote a provocative speech, as he was inclined to do, in 1968 entitled “To Hell With Good Intentions”. Speaking to the Conference of InterAmerican Student Projects, Illich attacked the idea of wealthy North Americans invading poor communities in the global South in the name of development, but shrouded in self-fulfilling experiences and the spread of global capitalism.
Illich vehemently argued that those parts of international volunteer programs “ultimately – consciously or unconsciously – are ‘sellers’ for a misleading ballet in the ideas of democracy, equal opportunity and free enterprise among people who have no opportunity to take advantage of them.” A condemnation of ill-considered development projects.
BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES
In this 2017 photo, WE co-founder Craig Kielburger (right) blows up the crowd at Bell MTS Place.
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BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES
In this 2017 photo, WE co-founder Craig Kielburger (right) blows up the crowd at Bell MTS Place.
This is the knock on WE Charity – the brainchild and passion of Craig and Mark Kielburger, who created a monster of a charity and social enterprise that caught the attention of Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, the Dali Lama and the world. It inspired the massive WE Day celebrations, where students were packed into arenas, pumped up by inspirational speakers and exposed to huge corporate donors.
But in the spring of 2020, amid the global pandemic, this goodwill giant’s reign was brought to a halt by the liberal governments’ Canadian Student Service Grant (CSSG) program, a COVID-19 aid program designed to connect young Canadians with paid volunteer opportunities. WE got the half-billion dollar contract, which would eventually lead to the resignation of then Treasury Secretary Bill Morneau and the collapse of WE and the brothers’ international reputation.
What We’ve Lost: Inside the Attack on Canada’s Largest Children’s Charity
By Tawfiq S. Rangwala
Optimal Publishing, 448 Pages, $27
WE’s relationship with the Trudeaus, the Kielburgers’ own blunders and the relentless pursuit of journalists and opposition MPs would be its ultimate demise, while the Prime Minister himself was able to wriggle free again. The Kielburgers seem to be the last “roadkill” left in Justin Trudeau’s wake.
This is the explanation of former WE board member Tawfiq S. Rangwala in What We’ve Lost: Attacking Canada’s Largest Children’s Charity. Rangwala, who stepped down from the board of the US WE Charity in 2021 to write the book, is an old family friend of the Kielburgers and felt compelled to defend the brothers and the organization against what he calls “the highest poppy syndrome.” According to Rangwala, “The bottom line is that for some of the Canadians who watched the Kielburgers with a mixture of amazement and envy, the CSSG controversy and ensuing avalanche of criticism provided the aha moment they had long hoped for. .”
What have we lost?
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What have we lost?
What is clear of What have we lost? is that the Kielburgers are not sinister monsters. At best, they’re two brothers who thought they could make systemic change by courting the world’s super-elite—an elite whose wealth is often bolstered by imbalance and inequality. Rangwala’s account seems unable to cut through this paradox, as he constantly speaks of courting the world elite: “And you don’t recruit captains of industry like Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, KPMG Global Chairman Bill Thomas and Virgin Group- founder Richard Branson to defend your cause unless you are focused and on the message.” This is where Canadian cynicism could rest.
At worst, the Kielburgers were fame-seeking kids who had no problem doing business with DOW Chemical, The Hershey Company, Boeing, and the like to build a name for themselves. But the former seems to be making its way through the pages of both this insider account and the results of parliamentary investigations.
The main tension that emerges from Rangwala’s account is the serious lack of reflection regarding WE itself, its mission and its ultimate raison d’être. While the charity’s one-off events make people feel good about themselves, there’s a much bigger demand. Time and again, the author emphasizes the innate talent of the Kielburgers to court the world’s most elite and wealthiest. If the dream is to ensure equality and sustainability in this country and the world, couldn’t we start by making sure that those with the most people pay their rate?
GEOFF ROBINS / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES
Author Tawfiq Rangwala emphasizes that Marc (left) and Craig Kielburger had an innate talent for courting the world’s rich and elite.
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GEOFF ROBINS / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES
Author Tawfiq Rangwala emphasizes that Marc (left) and Craig Kielburger had an innate talent for courting the world’s rich and elite.
And even Rangwala makes an effort to address the WE model: “Questions were raised as to whether the organization focused on the appeal of helping the less fortunate without addressing the underlying privilege that allowed benefactors to do so. ” In the comparisons he makes between WE and other NGOs such as Oxfam and CARE, the author touts philanthropy as the means to “meet the underlying challenges of poverty”.
What have we lost? also makes significant claims against the media – in particular Mark Kelly, The Fifth Estate and the CBC – and key opposition figures, including Charlie Angus and Pierre Poilievre. Rangwala, a lawyer by profession, argues that the attack on WE by the media and MPs was unfounded, faked and at times absurd. Several of these claims have been taken to the next level and are pending.
And or The Fifth Estate whether Rangwala’s stories come together to formulate some measure of truth, the book’s focal point lies in the author’s poignant question, “Why did people so readily accept that WE and the Kielburgers were up to no good…? ” Despite their elite support, how could they not protect themselves from the court of public opinion?
The answer? Their inability to protect themselves within the delusional ballet may have been their downfall, while their reliance on political friends sealed WE’s legacy/shame in the annals of Canadian international development history.
Matt Henderson is an Assistant Superintendent of Seven Oaks School Division.