Minister, I recently proposed a motion that was blocked by Liberal and Bloc Québécois colleagues, which dealt with some pretty serious issues at Canada Soccer. Now news has broken that this is only the tip of the iceberg.
Let's be clear on what we're talking about: It's a culture of pervasive cheating and pressuring at the top of our national soccer sporting organization and our national teams.
Players have been quoted as saying, “ 'No' wasn't an option. John Herdman put his staff under a lot of pressure. If his assistants refused, they were put aside”, and “You could be blacklisted, which would change your entire career.”
You are the former sports minister and the current heritage minister. Were you aware of this pervasive culture at Canada Soccer?
More importantly, what did you do, if anything, recognizing that the federal government funds Canada Soccer?