Canadian Heritage Committee on March 20th, 2023

[Paul-Claude Bérubé]

There was no final vote on the agreement. The agreement had already been approved, and the changes that had been requested were secondary. As far as all the important conditions were concerned, everything had already been agreed upon. In December 2018, during the conference call, Board members were not required to formally vote. It was simply a matter of acknowledging that the agreement could be signed, which was done on January 1, 2019.

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

I have one final comment. We've heard many words here today about how the organization wants to move ahead. The McLaren report had huge actions that you say you've actioned, but the whistle-blower briefs that we've received say there are still serious issues at Canada Soccer.

This committee will be looking into this further, and we can expect to come back to see that things actually do change there.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you, Ms. Gladu.

We're going to go to Mr. Housefather. for four minutes, please.

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

One of the questions I had for you related to the reopening of nominations for the post of president. There have been a number of comments about the fact that Mr. Bontis resigned at a time when it made it almost impossible for anybody to come forward to seek the position of president other than Ms. Crooks.

Has the timing for nominations been reopened?

[Stephanie Geosits]

According to our bylaws, the vice-president shall take on the role of acting president until the annual members meeting. In our case, that will be in early May.

The nominations committee has posted a call for nominations for both the officer positions, vice-president and president, as laid out in our bylaws. That call for nominations has gone out, and the nominations committee is accepting nominations for those two positions, which will be voted on at the AMM in May.

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

One of the areas that seems to be lacking in Canada Soccer is the fact that the national teams don't have representatives on the board. In other sports, there are athletes' councils that represent athletes. I don't see that in Canada Soccer.

Are you considering changing your bylaws, or recommending, in terms of the nominations committee, that somebody representing the national teams comes on to the board?

[Stephanie Geosits]

Actually, that is not the case.

In our bylaws, we have mandated that a former member of a national team be on our board. We have Brittany Timko Baxter, who was elected two years ago. She is an independent director, and that provision is now entrenched in our bylaws.

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

I understand, but I didn't say a former member of a national team, I said a current member. Alternatively, would you consider setting up an athletes' council, through which the current athletes would feel they have some representation, as we now have, for example, at Swimming Canada.

[Stephanie Geosits]

That is an excellent point. As I referenced, our need to improve our stakeholder engagement is something that we are exploring. We are working with the athletes on the national teams to have better lines of communication.

It's a yes to that.

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Thank you.

One of the things that also came forward was the lack of disclosure of the CSB agreement to the national teams. Will you commit to disclosing in full—not through a briefing—the terms of the agreement to the national team?

It would be in confidence, I assume, but it's already been leaked everywhere anyway.

[Earl Cochrane]

That is absolutely the case.

We will not just do what we did in July 2022 for the women's national team, which we've offered to do for the men's national team. We will continue to engage our national teams as we go through the discussions about what the new agreement may or may not look like, and involve them in deep discussions around what the ramifications of that are.

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Lastly, this is a question that didn't come up today, but I think it's been puzzling everybody.

Last year, a lot of money was spent on the men's team because of the World Cup and qualifications. I understand that. You spent a disproportionate amount on the men's team last year. You can't expect in World Cup years that it's going to be equal.

However, it seems like you borrowed from resources to fund the men's team. This year, you find yourself short on funds and unable to spend a commensurate amount of money on the women's team.

How did that happen?

[Earl Cochrane]

The member is correct. We invested significantly in our men's national team and our women's national team in 2022. With the resources available to us in 2023, we have put forward a program and a plan to make sure that our women are successful in Australia and New Zealand. That discussion with the women's national team staff and support staff has put them in a position in which they feel they can be successful, given the changes we've made.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you, Mr. Cochrane.

That brings an end to the witness testimony today, and the questions and answers.

I want to thank the witnesses for coming and answering the questions.

I would like to suspend for about a minute, so that the witnesses can log off and we can continue with our meeting for the next 15 minutes.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

I call the meeting back to order. We are ready to continue the business meeting now, for 15 minutes.

Ms. Thomas, you have the floor.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I realize that the business meeting has been called in order to discuss motions that have been presented to this committee. I was hoping to move a motion at this time, of which notice has been given.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you.

Go ahead, Ms. Thomas, please.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Thank you.

The motion that I was hoping we could pass—of course, my hope is that we can do it quite quickly—is this:

That, pursuant to the order of reference from the House dated Wednesday, February 15, 2023, the committee invite the Minister of Canadian Heritage to appear for no fewer than two hours regarding the Main Estimates 2023-24, and that this meeting take place as soon as possible, and no later than May 31, 2023.

Given that this is a customary practice, I present this motion to the committee for consideration.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you.

The committee has heard the motion.

Is there anyone who is opposed to the motion who wishes to speak?

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

I think it passes unanimously, Madam Chair.

(Motion agreed to)

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much, Peter.

The motion passes unanimously.

Now we will move on. I think there is another motion on the floor.

Thank you very much, Ms. Thomas.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Thank you, Chair.

The second motion that I wish to move is this:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee invite the Minister of Canadian Heritage to appear for no fewer than two hours regarding the subject matter of the Supplementary Estimates (C) 2022-23, and that this meeting take place as soon as possible, and no later than April 30, 2023.

Again, this is customary practice.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you, Ms. Thomas.

I'm going to ask the question again.

Is there anyone opposing this motion?

Yes, go ahead, Peter.

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

It's a question for Madam Thomas.

Would the idea be to have two separate appearances, or to combine the two appearances into one?

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Julian. I appreciate the question.

It would be customary that we would hear from the minister on each of these, so I am putting it forward as two separate motions and therefore two separate appearances.