Thank you, Chair, and thank you to the witnesses for being here.
One of the benefits of coming to a parliamentary committee is that sometimes when we shine the light on a subject it changes the attitude of the organization.
For example, when Hockey Canada first came here, they thought they had a bit of a communications problem, and at the end they saw the nature of the beast and cleared their whole executive level and put major measures in place. When Gymnastics Canada heard that they were coming to committee, Ian Moss, their CEO, stepped down.
I'm hopeful that by the fact that you are here today, this deal, which has just come out in the press and says they're going to pay you equally, comes to fruition. However, The Globe and Mail is reporting this:
Canada Soccer says its proposed labour deal would pay the teams the same match fee, with the squads sharing equally in competition prize money...[b]ut Canada Soccer acknowledged that equal pay does not mean equal dollars when it comes to team budgets, saying the competitive calendar and FIFA World Cup qualifications pathway for the men comes with “very different costs” than that of the women.
It seems to me that there's still an inequity in the way that the teams are being treated.
One question I have for you is, does Sport Canada fund Soccer Canada, or is there direct funding from the federal government?