Canadian Heritage Committee on Oct. 7th, 2022

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

I did that—

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

—and you failed to act—

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

I did that.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

—for a month.

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

I did that—

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

For one month, you sat silent.

As the quote goes, all that evil needs to triumph is for men, good men—we assume that's you—to do nothing: nothing, and that is exactly what you did. You did nothing for one month. You stood on the sidelines and you blamed it on a system, when you, as an individual with a conscience, with a heart and, hopefully, with an ounce of integrity, had an opportunity to do something—

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Mrs. Thomas, be careful.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

—and you did nothing.

I'm not done.

Here we are—

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

I would advise you to be careful with your language. Thank you.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Here we are before this committee. Our questions continue to be skirted and the blame continues to be put on the system.

The one thing that you did offer us today is that you do disagree with the funding that was given and you do believe that it should be pulled back and your department has taken that responsibility, but you've further said that the CRTC needs to do the same, because about half a million dollars has gone in that direction.

In order for that to take place, it would then be important for Mr. Rodriguez himself to come to this committee and to be able to testify, so to [Technical difficulty—Editor]

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

I'm sorry. You are muted, Mrs. Thomas.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Thank you.

I'm not sure at what point I got muted, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

You said that you would like Mr. Rodriguez to testify. You were muted for only about a second or two.

Thank you.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Thank you.

With that, because it's been brought to our attention that the CRTC gave about half a million dollars of funding to Mr. Marouf and his wife—a.k.a. the organization—and it would then be pertinent for Mr. Rodriguez to come to appear before this committee, I would like to move a motion to that effect. I'm happy to read that into the record at this point.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

You have two seconds, Mrs. Thomas. I'm sorry.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Madam Chair, once I move a motion, I am no longer constrained by time.

I will read my motion into the—

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

But you have not started the motion.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

I asked for your permission to read it into the record.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

All right. Go ahead.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Thank you.

In light of the shocking testimony and the discovery that CMAC received over half a million dollars from the CRTC dating back to 2016, I move: “That the Minister of Canadian Heritage be invited to appear before the committee at the earliest date possible regarding the federal funding provided to the Community Media Advocacy Centre, known as CMAC, by the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).”

Madam Chair, when it's appropriate, I wish to speak to my motion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you.

I will, if you don't mind, allow the last questioner, Mr. Coteau, and then we're going to have to debate and discuss this motion that we have. If you wish to do it today, I'm letting you know that we have departmental witnesses who may not be able to testify. If you want to move this into another time, we could discuss it in a business meeting that may be coming up very soon.

What would you like to do, Mrs. Thomas?

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

I believe I've made it clear that my motion is so moved.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

So would you like it dealt with right now?

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

My motion is so moved.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

All right. We have a motion on the floor.

Is there anyone who wishes to speak to the motion?

I see hands up.

I see Mr. Nater.