Canadian Heritage Committee on April 27th, 2023

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Hello everyone.

I call the meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number 77 of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.

I would like to acknowledge that this meeting is taking place on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people.

Today's meeting, obviously, is taking place in a hybrid format, as most of you know, pursuant to the House order of Thursday, June 23, 2022.

I will make some housekeeping announcements.

While public health authorities and the Board of Internal Economy no longer require mask wearing, if you are in the room, then it would be a very good idea, for your sake and each other's, to wear a mask, because COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases are still there around us. Mask use is recommended.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind all participants of this meeting that taking screenshots or taking photos of your screen is not permitted. The proceedings will be made available via the House of Commons website, so you can get whatever you need when you go to that site.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Tuesday, September 20, 2022, the committee is meeting to continue its study on safe sport in Canada.

I have a couple of quick things. Do not speak unless the chair recognizes you to speak. Please direct all your questions and answers through the chair. At the very bottom of your screen, for those of you who are here virtually, there is a little globe icon. If you press that, you can get interpretation in English or in French, or in whatever original language is there.

I think that's basically all we need to know, so we're going to start with our witnesses for today.

We have for the first hour, as an individual, Steven Reed, former president of Canadian Soccer, by video conference.

Mr. Reed, you will be given five minutes to speak, and then there will be an open question-and-answer session in which you will be asked questions and respond to them. I will give you a 30-second shout-out...and I mean that I will shout out. I will say “30 seconds” so that you can hear me, because sometimes when people are reading their testimony, they don't look up to see a sign flashing saying 30 seconds or whatever. When I give you the 30-second heads-up, I will expect you to take that time to wrap up. Sometimes if you don't get to finish what you have to say, it'll all come out in the wash when you get to the questions and answers. You can make the points you want to make then.

Mr. Reed, welcome to the committee. You now have five minutes to begin.

[Steven Reed, Former President, Canada Soccer, As an Individual]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Hello, Madam Chair and members of the committee. As pointed out, I'm Steven Reed.

For much of my adult life I've dedicated my time to volunteering in the sport of soccer. I've coached youth teams in Victoria and Surrey, served as vice-president and president of the British Columbia Soccer Association and served on Canada Soccer's board of directors for 15 years.

Most recently, as the committee knows, I was vice-president of Canada Soccer from 2012 to 2017, and president of Canada Soccer from 2017 to 2020. Prior to that, it was my great privilege to serve on the national organizing committee for the FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015, a competition that was one of the high points for me and for soccer in Canada.

As this committee also knows, Canada Soccer is the governing body for the sport of soccer in our country, made up of provincial and territorial associations and professional league members. Canada Soccer is also charged with coaching development, referee development and national team programs at all age levels.

During my time on the Canada Soccer board, I focused on collaborating with partners and staff to grow soccer in Canada from the grassroots level up and strove to ensure that soccer is the safest sport in our country. Building on that outline, the remarks I make today will focus on two areas specifically: one, my role in the negotiations of the Canada Soccer-Canadian Soccer Business, or CSB, agreement; and two, the safe sports guardrails that were initiated during my time on the Canada Soccer board.

Before proceeding further, I also want to underline that I left Canada Soccer in 2020 when my term expired, and I have played no role in the association since that time. As such, my ability to comment on more recent events is limited.

Regarding the CSB agreement, which was unanimously agreed to by the Canada Soccer board on March 23, 2018, as this committee has heard, the CSB agreement provides valuable broadcast and streaming opportunities for both senior national teams. It guarantees annual payments to Canada Soccer and has secured new partners for investment in grassroots and high-performance soccer in Canada. Prior to the CSB agreement, Canada Soccer was paying hundreds of thousands of dollars per year to broadcast women’s and men’s national team matches. No Canadian broadcaster was willing to pay to broadcast the games. The agreement resolved that issue and has helped grow the women’s and men’s games in Canada. That reality was one of the major motivating factors of the Canada Soccer board for entering into the agreement. In short, there are benefits to the agreement for all parties.

The CSB agreement is a dynamic document. I know current Canada Soccer and CSB senior leadership are exploring ways to update it, but at the outset, the agreement was a strong and appropriate way to create revenue certainty for Canada Soccer and control costs. It’s also important to note the CSB agreement is not the only source of revenue for Canada Soccer. For example, Canada Soccer receives significant gate revenue from the matches the association hosts.

On the matter of safe and respectful conduct in sport, my firm personal belief is that everyone who engages in sport must be afforded the right and opportunity to play, train and compete in a healthy and supportive environment that is respectful, equitable and free from all forms of harassment and abuse.

During the time I served as president of Canada Soccer, our board and staff took many actions to ensure the association was meeting that imperative, including by leading or assisting with developing and launching a club licensing program; building a relationship with the Canadian Centre for Child Protection; signing a long-term partnership with Respect Group; hiring a manager of coach education and a master coach developer; and publishing a new coach education pathway. We also developed and rolled out a national children's licence and approved and launched the Canada Soccer safe sport roster, which combines mandatory certification for all coaches, a sophisticated club licensing program, a national soccer registry, a whistle-blower policy and hotline, a code of conduct and ethics, and concussion protocols to create the best possible conditions for players, coaches, referees and administrators.

Those and other initiatives are indicative of my personal commitment to safe sport and of Canada Soccer’s commitment to ensuring the safety and well-being of everyone playing and participating in soccer in Canada.

Thank you for your attention. I look forward to answering your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much.

I did not have to give you a 30-second warning, Mr. Reed, so thank you.

We're going to the question-and-answer session. The first round is six minutes. I must remind everyone that the six minutes must include the question and the answer, so be as succinct as you possibly can.

We will begin this round with a member from the Conservative Party. The first one up will be Mrs. Thomas for the Conservatives.

Rachael, you have six minutes, please.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Thank you.

Mr. Reed, you served as president of BC Soccer from 2006 to 2009, and at the same time you also served on the board for Canada Soccer.

In 2008, the women's coach, Bob Birarda, was accused of sexually assaulting players. Eventually he was released from Soccer Canada, but the allegations were covered up and it was said to be a “mutual decision”.

A few months later, Mr. Birarda was hired to coach the U14 girls team under BC Soccer. As president of BC Soccer at that time, I'm wondering what your role was in that decision-making process.

[Steven Reed]

During the period of 2006 through 2009, you're correct that I was the president of BC Soccer. When the accusations came out about Bob Birarda, it was dealt with by the executive board of Canada Soccer. The governance structure at that time was much different from what it is now. There was an executive board of about seven individuals, I believe, and the provincial and territorial presidents were also on the board but not part of any decision-making process.

When the accusations came out and were brought to light, those were dealt with by the executive board. We were informed after the fact—I can't recall the communication, whether it was written or email communication or it was at a subsequent board meeting—of the results of the ombudsperson's recommendations, ultimately coming to the termination of Mr. Birarda from Canada Soccer's role.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Right, but as president of BC Soccer, the decision was subsequently made to hire him, after you were informed. A decision was made to hire him for the U14 team.

[Steven Reed]

He was not hired by BC Soccer for any role, to my knowledge.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

He was not hired.

[Steven Reed]

Not to my knowledge.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

I will look further into that, then.

I will move to my next questions having to do with the soccer deal. I'm curious as to why the deal with Canada Soccer Business was never put into the annual report.

[Steven Reed]

Which annual report are you referring to?

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

I'm referring to Canada Soccer's annual report.

[Steven Reed]

It may have been a timing issue. I don't recall.

If that was the annual report for after the agreement was executed, that would have been in 2019. Our annual general meeting would have been in May of that year. I know of no reason why it was or was not included in that annual report.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Was it part of the strategic plan? Was it reported there?

[Steven Reed]

In the strategic plan of.... That would have been the 2019 strategic plan. I don't recall that either, whether it was included or not.

I don't have those documents readily available to me, so I can't comment on that.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Okay. When the deal was created, was there any legal counsel consulted, or a professional consultant, with regard to a sponsorship deal of this nature?

[Steven Reed]

The legal counsel was engaged in terms of reviewing the provisions of the agreement, the memorandum of understanding and the drafting of the actual document. We did not take counsel on the sponsorship aspects of it from any external body.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

I'm curious as to your qualifications to sign off on such a deal.

[Steven Reed]

Is that my individual qualifications?

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Yes, it would—

[Steven Reed]

I mean, as the president of the board of directors, I act on their recommendations and their approval. I executed the document based on a board motion where they gave me the directive to sign on behalf of the board.

I don't know that my individual qualifications with regard to the sponsorship agreement are relevant.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

I'm sorry, but as president at the time, you're saying that your involvement or your qualifications in terms of considering such a deal were not relevant. Are you simply the man who puts the seal on the document?

[Steven Reed]

No, I'm sorry. I'm not saying that.

It was a collective agreement. It was reviewed by all of the board and legal counsel. We collectively, collaboratively determined that the CSB agreement was something that we wanted to pursue and sign.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

You were president at the time, and I'm curious as to whether or not the CSB deal was reported to Canadian Heritage, since you were receiving public funds from them at the time.

[Steven Reed]

I don't recall whether it was reported to Canadian Heritage.