Canadian Heritage Committee on Feb. 13th, 2023

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Marouf has probably already spent some of that money.

Of the money that was given to the Community Media Advocacy Centre through the program they benefited from, how much has already been spent by the Community Media Advocacy Centre? Do you have any information on that?

[Mala Khanna]

I don't have more precise amounts than the money that was given to CMAC for the work done on.... It was $122,661.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

To your knowledge, has the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission also taken steps to recover the money given to Mr. Marouf's organization?

[Mala Khanna]

The cost awards, which I believe you are referring to, are a means of being reimbursed for participating in CRTC hearings. The Department of Canadian Heritage has no role in that process, so I am not at liberty to say.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Thank you, Mrs. Khanna.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much. The time is up.

I'm going to the NDP and Mr. Julian for two and a half minutes.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

You mentioned earlier, Ms. Khanna, that there's been a review undertaken, I'm assuming, of the thousands of contracts that are accorded to Canadian Heritage that—

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

A point of order, Madam Chair.

Mr. Julian, I apologize for interrupting, but there isn't any interpretation into French.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

I will suspend until we get that. Thank you.

All right. Thank you.

Continue, Peter.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Champoux and Madam Chair.

Concerning the review of existing contracts, did that include social media vetting? Did that include all of the measures that obviously come to mind in this circumstance? Can you assure us that there are no further expressions of hate out there from any of the recipients of these contracts or their employees?

[Mala Khanna]

The review that was done was of the two programs that Minister Hussen is responsible for, the anti-racism action program and the multiculturalism program.

We reviewed all of the active recipients with agreements that were already in place, because the minister paused both of the programs. We took the time during that pause to review all of the active agreements. There were about 350 active agreements. There were also, because there is a continuous intake, additional applications made for funds. Those applications, about 200 of them, were also reviewed.

The review that was done was what I was describing before, which is not just an Internet search of the organization but of the board of directors, the executive director, consultants or others who are associated with the project and who are listed in the project's application. There was a Google search done, and any results that came up that were of concern would be flagged to the manager and then looked at more closely by legal, our centre of expertise and comms for assessment.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Okay. Thank you.

One concern that has come up is the lack of communication within the department between Minister Hussen and Minister Rodriguez. I was stunned to learn that Minister Rodriguez testified that he didn't learn about all of this until August 22.

Have measures been taken internally so the Minister of Canadian Heritage is aware of problems happening in his ministry even if they're administered by another minister?

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Your time is up, but I will allow Ms. Khanna to respond.

[Mala Khanna]

Thank you for the question.

Within the department we are...and I think this case has been a good example of an opportunity for us to reinforce the importance of working, as a department, to ensure we are sharing pertinent information in as timely a way as possible.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you, Peter.

I'm going to go to the Conservatives for five minutes, please.

Mr. Shields, you have five minutes.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses. It's a challenge to answer some of the questions. I understand.

One thing about this business and the people involved with this business is that they have been involved for many years in getting government contracts—about $600,000.

Businesses can easily change their names. How are you going to make sure that this is communicated across the silos, so it doesn't pop up somewhere else?

[Mala Khanna]

We are ensuring that within the Department of Canadian Heritage, we are—

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

I got the Department of Heritage, but he has applied for contracts and other things.

How will this information be shared with other departments so that they're aware of this?

[Mala Khanna]

Thank you for the question.

The communications that we have with other departments are really around processes. We do not have a—

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

For the processes you're now putting in place that you've talked about, the many agencies you've talked to, the different things you're going to do with yours, are these now being shared across the government spectrum where people apply for grants?

[Mala Khanna]

We are sharing the processes that we have put in place with other departments.

Was that your question, sir?

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Yes.

[Mala Khanna]

Yes.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

That's critical. Could you share with us the communication you've done on that particular aspect?

[Mala Khanna]

I believe we can, yes.