Published in 2022 by Optimum Press, the book chronicles the controversy surrounding the Justin Trudeau government's selection of WE Charity to administer the 2020 Canada Student Service Grant (CSSG) program.
Founded by then-teenaged brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger as Free the Children, it attracted the attention of public figures ranging from Oprah Winfrey and Bill Gates to the Dalai Lama.
ME to WE also provided travel services to western youths who wanted to perform volunteer work in developing countries, such as assisting with harvests, collecting water, and building schools.
[3] On April 19, 2020, a month into the COVID-19 pandemic, Employment and Social Development Canada approached WE Charity to discuss the possibility of administering a youth service program as a component of the government's response to unemployment.
As of September 2022, WE Charity's Toronto real estate portfolio was in the process of being sold to fund the continuation of its activities in Kenya, including its 37-bed Baraka Hospital and WE College, which confers certifications in nursing and tourism.
He concludes that WE Charity's relationship with the Trudeaus was the central cause of its misfortune, and cynically observes that Justin Trudeau himself emerged unscathed, leaving the Kielburgers as political "roadkill" in his wake.
Rangwala argues that the choice of WE Charity Foundation to manage the CSSG program made perfect sense in light of its track record of engagement with schools and students across the country.
Literary Review of Canada's Ian Smillie supports this characterization, writing that several independent reports show that, from 2014 through 2018, ME to WE contributed nearly $7 million, or 90% of its earnings, to WE Charity as well as paying the Kielburgers' annual salaries and benefits of $125,000.
"The bottom line is that for a subset of Canadians who watched the Kielburgers with a mix of amazement and jealousy," he writes, "the CSSG controversy and ensuing avalanche of criticism provided the aha moment they had long hoped for.
[3] "The central issue of the book," writes Matt Henderson in Winnipeg Free Press, "rests in the author's poignant question: 'Why were people so quick to accept that WE and the Kielburgers were up to no good?'"