News Item Ethical Journal

Misuse Of Money Article

Shahirah Ali
This article is about the misuse of money that was placed into the hands of a Toronto
agency called La Passerelle that was supposed to supply sports and concert tickets for
children in low income families. This organization was funded by the government; using
many of the funds and tickets received on their friends, families and themselves. They
mainly used tickets they believed would not be used such as Justin Timberlake, Taylor
Swift and Raptors tickets. This totaling about $54 000 worth of tickets that have not been
used towards the children who are entitles to these tickets. La Passerelle was also
responsible for misusing money that was to be used toward rescuing women from
prostitution. However, they have taken this money and used it to their personal
advantages as well as paying 26 women who are not prostitutes to begin with. They have
also spent money on a meeting with 15 women for a leadership and empowerment with
regards to prostitution, but not once did they speak about the issue at hand. Rater than
the money intended to go towards aiding to reduce prostitution, a very limited amount of
money was actually spent on these women, they only received help through a specialist
that was paid for to teach mediation. About $1.5 million tax dollars was to go towards
recuing prostitutes the main people affected by this misuse of money are tax payers, their
money going towards people using the money to their own advantage rather than the
money going towards the intended purposes; the children and women who have not
receive that they are entitled to or promised are also affected given that they are not
receiving any help. Over all the La Passerelle agency have been misusing money
intended for other purposes and using the money for their own use.
Question 1- why did I choose this article?
I chose this article because it speaks about an act that was selfish, where the money was
supposed to go toward children and aiding women from prostitution. This article to me is
important to be awake of, it raises the attention of the public, making sure that this mistake
could be prevented in the future and also to make sure that to government become more
strict on funded organizations and agencies. I found this article very interesting given that
this issue was not brought up sooner before such a high amount of money was used
irresponsibly.
Question 2- why and how do you think it occurred?
With such a large amount of money in the wrong hands, it could be very easy to want to
use it to your own advantage; I believe that the rules and regulations for the use of the
money was not strict enough or monitored correctly. The agency was not the only ones
to blame in this issue, the government was also responsible for continuing to fund money
to an agency that was not followed up on to make sure the money was used responsibly.
Morals and values are also a part to play in this issue, the owners of this agency where
responsible for helping children and women in need, if their morals and values were in
check they would know not to use the money to their own advantage.
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Question 3-what measures should have been put into place to prevent it from occurring?
The solution to this issue is very simple, keeping track of where the money is going to
and how much is being spent on the Government’s end. This meaning that when the
Government supply’s money to the agency, they should maintain being strict on what the
money is being put towards to ensure that the money is used responsibly. The
Government needs to make sure that all of the money that is supposed to go to the
children and women are responsibly provided to them and that there are monthly reports
that are revised by the government showing receipts to prove that the money is used
appropriately. Providing test toward the owners and employees of the agencies to make
sure their morals and values are appropriate for the job is a good step to take to ensure
that the money is put into the right hands. Meeting should be made to ensure that there
was progress being made amongst the women taking part in prostitution and to ensure
that a variety of children are provided with tickets that were intended for them based on
their parent’s income.
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Reference
Donovan, K. (2019, April 08). Toronto agency in hot water over ticket misuse and anti-
prostitution scheme told by province to take 'immediate action'. Retrieved April 08,
2019, from https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2019/04/08/toronto-agency-in-
hot-water-over-ticket-misuse-and-anti-prostitution-scheme-told-by-province-to-
take-immediate-action.html