Canadian Heritage Committee on March 30th, 2023

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you, Dr. Bontis, and thank you, Ms. Thomas.

I'm going to go to the Liberals and Anthony Housefather for five minutes.

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Thank you very much.

I'm going to continue on Rachel's line of questioning.

On this deal, Mr. Bontis, you stated that there was an opportunity to renegotiate the base amount, which is essentially a guaranteed amount, but it can't increase. It's basically that despite the men's team qualifying for the World Cup and the women's team winning the Olympics, you get no bump in the amounts that you negotiated for the first 10 years. Then, in the second 10 years, if you don't agree on an amount with CSB, there's a fixed amount that's in the contract that's barely an escalation from what was in the first 10 years.

This is opposed to in the United States, where they had a similar deal, and it went up to $30 million at the end. Here, you have almost no escalation. What Rachel said is actually the case. It's an unbelievable deal. We cannot understand how anybody could sign an agreement that fixes pricing for 20 years, no matter how well the soccer teams do.

Let me ask a different question, if it's okay, Mr. Bontis.

I understand that you didn't sign the deal. Mr. Reed signed the deal. At the last meeting, I had a number of questions about when this agreement was approved.

The representatives of Canada Soccer told us that it was approved in March 2018. I pointed them to a board meeting in December 2018 where it was clear that the deal had not been approved because the board had revisited...the deal was being renegotiated and the board had lots of things and mandates to get to the negotiating committee. They said, well, there was a conference call that happened later in December that wasn't minuted. Then the agreement was signed as of January 1.

Mr. Bontis, do you remember on what date Mr. Reed signed the agreement?

[Dr. Nick Bontis]

I don't remember the exact date that the agreement was signed, but you are correct in your characterization that the board agreed to the deal on March 27. A news release went public on our website on March 28.

The meeting you're speaking about, for November, as is in the minutes that you have a copy of, was for smaller, less substantive issues having to deal with—

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Mr. Bontis, let me correct you: It was not for smaller and less substantive issues. As Mr. Heffernan stated, the negotiating committee was renegotiating four very important parts of the agreement, including broadcasting rights, term and renewal, etc., signing authority on sponsorship and broadcast agreements, which is why it's mysterious that we didn't get minutes showing where the board actually then approved the agreement.

Suddenly, after the last meeting, the board minutes of February 7, 2019, showed up. The board there fully adopted the agreement, meaning that it clearly didn't consider the 2018 motion to be valid, because it was completely readopted, authorizing the signing of the representation agreement and the funding agreement. Do you recall that meeting in February, which suddenly showed up in minutes that we never had before?

[Dr. Nick Bontis]

I can't speak to why there was a clerical error. I'm not with Canada Soccer anymore. It's a regrettable error. What I can speak to is that—

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

You're on the minutes as having attended the meeting, though, Mr. Bontis. Do you recall having attended a board meeting on February 7, 2019, when the board adopted resolutions authorizing the signature of the agreement?

[Dr. Nick Bontis]

Yes, the February 7 meeting was a reaffirmation that the—

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

No, it was not. That is not what any of the motions say. The motion says, “The entering into by the Corporation of the representation agreement dated January 1, 2019...substantially in the form submitted to the directors,” blah, blah, “is hereby authorized and approved”. It doesn't refer back to 2018. It doesn't refer back to a previous approval. It's a new approval that has suddenly appeared.

Let me ask a different question, Mr. Bontis. Mr. Reed signed the agreement by himself. In the bylaws of Canada Soccer, it states that any agreement needs to be signed by the executive secretary and by a second signatory, either the vice-president or the president. Did the executive secretary of Canada Soccer ever sign the agreements? I don't see a signature on it.

[Dr. Nick Bontis]

I don't recall. I did not sign it as vice-president, but I don't know if there was a—

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

We have only Mr. Reed's signature, and it's a governance issue.

Mr. Heffernan, you are still CFO at Canada Soccer. Canada Soccer's bylaws, including the bylaws I found dating back to that time in 2019, state clearly in 1.10 that the executive secretary needs to sign. Did he ever sign that agreement?

[Sean Heffernan]

No.

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Thank you.

Let me ask another question, then, and this is a very important question. I understand that you wanted a men's professional league to be set up so we could bid on the World Cup. Why were the women's assets included in an agreement that made no commitment to ever set up a women's professional league?

Mr. Bontis...?

[Dr. Nick Bontis]

I would want to pass the question on to Victor, because he had that parameter in the original proposal that was put forward to the board early on in—

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Which was after the day he left as president. I want to tell everybody that in the minutes, you see Mr. Montagliani's presence at board meetings long after he left as president of Canada Soccer. In fact, they tried to pass a resolution authorizing him to attend all board meetings afterwards.

So, Mr. Montagliani, sure, tell us how, after you left as president, you were involved in the negotiations of this agreement and how you ended up with these terms.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

You have 30 seconds.

[Vittorio Montagliani]

After I left the Canadian Soccer Association, I wasn't involved at all with any of these negotiations. My attendance at a board meeting was upon the request of the president, and it's common. I get requested by a lot of my member associations to attend for the first five or 10 minutes, to give an update on—

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Mr. Bontis just referred the question to you, saying that you had more knowledge than he, who was sitting on the executive the entire time and was vice-president at the time it was signed. That's very telling.

Thank you, Mr. Montagliani.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much.

We come to the end of our question and answer session, because we're going to have to take some time to go in camera.

I want to thank the witnesses for coming.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Madam Chair...?

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Yes.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

There seems to be consensus around the table that perhaps you could give each party another two- to three-minute round. We believe that it would still allow the time that's needed for the business.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Is that clear? Is there anyone objecting to that? I am not able to tell what the agreement is. Is everyone in agreement?

Are there any hands up, Clerk? I don't see any.

[The Clerk]

No, there are no hands up. Everybody seems in agreement.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Well then, let's move on. I think there are four, so we can give everyone two minutes each.

I shall go to the Conservatives, I don't know who's going to take that, but you have two minutes. Let me know.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I would like to put my question to Mr. Bontis.

Despite all your good will, why was there no pay equity?