Evidence of meeting #46 for Canadian Heritage in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
I just wanted to note that the minister has to leave at a set time, so he may not be here for this discussion, and he needn't be anyway.
Go ahead, Mr. Nater.
Conservative
John Nater Conservative Perth—Wellington, ON
Thank you, Madam Chair, but I believe Mrs. Thomas still has the floor.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
She moved her motion. I was looking at people who wished to speak for or against.
Mrs. Thomas, do you wish to say more on this motion? It seemed to me to be pretty clear.
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
Madam Chair, I do believe it's customary that the mover of the motion is the first to speak.
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
Thank you.
I recognize that a motion of this nature has been entertained at this committee before; however, at that time we did not have all of the information that we now have. Based on the testimony that has been brought forward by Minister Hussen, we now know that, indeed, about half a million dollars was given to Mr. Marouf and his wife, a.k.a. the organization. That's the entire organization. That was given by the CRTC. We know, based on Mr. Hussen's testimony, that it is Minister Rodriguez who oversees the heritage department, which oversees the CRTC, which gave the funding.
It would then seem to be of interest to this committee to hear from Minister Rodriguez in terms of this funding, how that vetting process was conducted, why that funding was granted in the first place and what actions are going to be taken in order to mitigate risk going forward.
I say risk because to have someone like Mr. Marouf on Twitter and other social media platforms spewing hate of the worst kind.... I don't even know that you can say that. All forms of hate are disgusting, but there is something extraordinarily vile about Mr. Marouf's approach.
Money was given to this individual when there was clear evidence showing that he is an extremely vile individual who engages in not only racist rhetoric but calls for outright violence and celebration of violence that has already been done. Given that this is the fact, it seems appropriate that the minister would be given an opportunity to answer for his department's decisions and how they might make changes going forward.
I think this whole situation is very shocking. This summer when I first became aware of Mr. Marouf's statements, I know that I, for one, was very shocked, appalled and surprised. I watched as Canadians responded. I saw their grief, frustration, outrage and pain. It was pain for many of them. There are many who are a part of the Jewish community and many who are allies with the Jewish community. They see conduct like that, and it impacts them deeply.
The truth is that I wish it impacted all of us deeply. I wish Minister Hussen had been impacted at a deeper level so that it would not have taken him a month to finally respond with any sort statement of condemnation towards the conduct of Mr. Marouf.
The point is this. There are these vile, absolutely disgusting tweets and other social media engagements that are out there. Somehow that was missed in the vetting process. Mr. Hussen has said that he's going to undertake an investigation or a review process of some kind in order to look into that and hopefully fix the vetting process.
We do not know what Mr. Rodriguez is going to do on his side with regard to the half a million dollars of funding that has been awarded by the CRTC. What about that vetting process? What did that look like? How did Mr. Marouf get missed? What's going to be done in order to rectify that situation? How are we going to ensure that Canadian tax dollars are not put towards the perpetuation of racism in the future? As this government has stated, and I hope I can take them at their word, they want to fight racism.
Again, I find that somewhat difficult to fully believe or give credit to when we have a minister before us who took more than a month—more than a month—just to open his mouth and say something, let alone take action. I actually would say that inaction, therefore, makes him complicit in racism. He actually lent to its perpetuation.
However, if the true desire going forward is for change, then I would suggest that we give Mr. Rodriguez the opportunity to share with us his vision for his department and the actions that he will take going forward in order to rectify this, in order to make sure that Canadians are assured—assured of their safety, assured of their well-being, assured that their tax dollars will be used wisely, assured that they are not made complicit in extending racism.
I sure don't want my tax dollars used in that way, and I don't think anyone on this committee call right now wants their tax dollars to be used in that way. So, for that reason, for the reason of accountability, for the reason of transparency—
Liberal
Michael Coteau Liberal Don Valley East, ON
I just want to point out that we had the minister here for one hour. I am the last person, I believe, on the list to speak. Obviously, the minister has made it very clear that he is here for an hour.
The member now has taken up 15 minutes speaking during her duration and also during her motion that she's moving. I would just say that, as a common courtesy to each member of this committee, we should at least attempt to allow people to speak and use their slots. In this case, it's clear that the minister will have to leave, and I will not be able to ask my questions. As a courtesy, I would ask the member to speed things up so we can proceed with the final round.
Thank you.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Mrs. Thomas, you have been requested.... You have the floor, so it is your decision.
Conservative
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Am I clear that you are not ceding the floor for Mr. Coteau to ask his question?
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
Madam Chair, I believe the time is mine, and I believe [Inaudible—Editor] point of order.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
I'm asking you a simple yes-or-no question. You will not cede it. Fine. Thank you.
Liberal
Anita Vandenbeld Liberal Ottawa West—Nepean, ON
Could we perhaps let the minister go, given that it looks like this is going to go on for some time?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Yes, I was about to say that the minister may leave.
I'm sorry, Michael. Mrs. Thomas has not allowed you that question.
The minister may leave. He does not have to be here for the debate on the motion.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
I'd like to thank the minister for appearing, and I would like to thank him for giving us his time. I know that he has many demands on his time.
Minister, you may leave.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Personally, thank you.
If we are going to have time for the second hour, I would hope that the officials would stay. Thank you.
Mrs. Thomas, you have the floor.
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Having light shed on the fact that the CMAC, which is Mr. and Mrs. Marouf, received over half a million dollars dating back to 2016 and given that that funding came through the CRTC, which Minister Rodriguez oversees, it seems incumbent upon us as the committee to ask Mr. Rodriguez to come and to testify here so that we would have opportunities to ask him questions.
Again, I don't need to remind this committee of the vile nature of Mr. Marouf's interactions on social media and the fact that he is a raging anti-Semite who was asked by this government to put in place anti-Semitic training or anti-racism training. I think that—I don't know—it baffled me—
