I have been on both sides of this issue.  I was fortunate enough to have
done an internship where I was paid a small monthly stipend, funded by a
government grant.  Unfortunately, those days are long gone.  I have also
hosted interns and in one situation, while there was no 'official' money to
pay the intern, I managed to convince the powers that be to provide at
least an honorarium ($1000 for a 3 month internship) and tried to cover
whatever other costs I could (mileage, food) out of my meagre operating
budget.  I also had an intern who I could not pay (due to the fact that she
was a foreign student), but at least I was able to cover her transportation
costs (a bus pass) for the term of the internship.

I agree with those who have stated that it is often difficult to come up
with money to pay these talented and hardworking folks, but we should try
as hard as we can to provide them with whatever we can.  You never know
what's available until you ask.  Quite often the phrase, "There's no money
in the budget" isn't as black and white as it seems.  When my department
could afford to pay honoraria for speakers and panel members, I managed to
make a pretty convincing argument that, from a value for money standpoint,
an honorarium for an intern was a pretty good deal.

Alex Avdichuk
City of Toronto
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