WE Charity's plan to pay teachers to recruit students for grant program posed ethical dilemma for some
OTTAWA — The proposal by WE Charity to pay teachers $12,000 for recruiting students into the Canada Student Service Grant program would in many cases put the teacher in violation of their province’s code of conduct, experts say.
WE Charity pulled out of the grant program on July 3, leaving the government to run it this year. It is not clear whether the $12,000 recruiting incentive is still on the table for teachers or whether any money will be paid out to teachers due to existing agreements made by WE Charity.
On July 20, the National Post asked Employment and Social Development Canada — the federal department now running the grant program — whether teacher incentive payments are still part of the program in any way. As of press time on Monday the department still had not responded, but apologized for the delay.
The teacher payments came to light when WE Charity published a job posting for the grant program. The posting promising to pay $12,000 to any teacher who recruited at least 75 student volunteers (or 55 volunteers in rural areas), more than double the the maximum grant of $5,000 available to students under the grant program.
The professional code of conduct for teachers varies by provinces and teacher associations, but in many places it appears the proposed $12,000 payments would violate the code.
The Alberta Teachers’ Association code, for example, stipulates that teachers “may not take advantage of a professional position to profit from the sale of goods or services to or for pupils in the teacher’s charge.”
· WE organization under scrutiny for not registering as lobbyist before pitching proposals to Trudeau Liberals
· Trudeau government was willing to pay WE Charity up to $43.5M to run student volunteer grant program
The Manitoba Teachers’ Society code says that each one of its members “recognizes that a privileged relationship with students exists and refrains from exploiting that relationship for material, ideological or other advantage.”
The code of the New Brunswick Teachers’ Association says teachers must not “accept personal gifts which would not directly benefit the school program, from companies servicing the needs of schools or student extracurricular activities.” It also says teachers must not “use his/her position to profit from the sale of goods and services to or for pupils in the teacher’s charge.”
• Email: bplatt@postmedia.com | Twitter: btaplatt
• Email: cnardi@postmedia.com | Twitter: ChrisGNardi
