Evidence of meeting #77 for Canadian Heritage in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was board.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
I'm curious then as to how we would find that information.
Who would be able to tell us whether or not that was reported to Canadian Heritage?
Former President, Canada Soccer, As an Individual
You would have direct your query to current staff.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Thank you very much.
I'm going to now go to the Liberals and Anthony Housefather.
You have six minutes, Anthony.
Liberal
Anthony Housefather Liberal Mount Royal, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you for being here, Mr. Reed.
Mr. Reed, in preparation for your testimony today did you discuss your testimony with Victor Montagliani, Peter Montopoli, Nick Bontis or Earl Cochrane?
Former President, Canada Soccer, As an Individual
I had a discussion with Earl Cochrane. I have not had any discussions with any other individuals.
Liberal
Anthony Housefather Liberal Mount Royal, QC
Thank you.
In terms of Mrs. Thomas's question about the U14 team in B.C., she used the word “hired”. BC Soccer may not have hired him, but he did coach a U14 team in B.C. months after he was let go by Canada Soccer.
Why as president of BC Soccer did you allow somebody who you knew to have these allegations against him coach a team of young women?
Former President, Canada Soccer, As an Individual
BC Soccer does not [Technical difficulty—Editor]. That would have been at a club or district level. At the time, there was no national registry of coaches. There was no ability to determine whether that individual was coaching in our province or any other province.
Unfortunately—
Liberal
Anthony Housefather Liberal Mount Royal, QC
Mr. Reed, the gentleman was coaching in British Columbia a team of young women months after you knew he had these allegations against him.
Are you saying that you were completely unaware and everybody on the board of BC Soccer was completely unaware that he was coaching in the province for the next 10 years?
Former President, Canada Soccer, As an Individual
I can't speak for other members of the board, but I was unaware that he was coaching at that time.
Liberal
Anthony Housefather Liberal Mount Royal, QC
For a decade, you were unaware. While you were president of Canada Soccer, you were unaware that the man was coaching in B.C.?
Liberal
Anthony Housefather Liberal Mount Royal, QC
Okay. I'm sure my colleagues will have many more questions on this.
Let me ask another question because I'm flabbergasted at that answer. I don't think I want to further pursue it.
Section 1.10 of the bylaws of Canada Soccer that were in place the day that you signed the CSB agreement stated as follows: “Deeds, transfers, assignments, contracts, obligations and other instruments in writing requiring execution by Canada Soccer shall be signed by the General Secretary and any one (1) of the President or Vice President.”
You were the only one who signed the CSB agreement, Mr. Reed.
Why did Peter Montopoli, the general secretary who was required by the bylaws to sign it, not sign it?
Former President, Canada Soccer, As an Individual
It was an inadvertent oversight. The board had unanimously approved the agreement and issued a direct—
Liberal
Anthony Housefather Liberal Mount Royal, QC
Your own bylaws, Mr. Reed, stated that the general secretary was supposed to sign every agreement. Did you not follow that practice while the bylaws were in place?
Were there other agreements that you executed by yourself?
Former President, Canada Soccer, As an Individual
No, there were no other agreements that I executed by myself.
Liberal
Anthony Housefather Liberal Mount Royal, QC
There were no other agreements executed by yourself. Then how did this one slip through the cracks?
Was Mr. Montopoli opposed to the signing of this agreement?
Former President, Canada Soccer, As an Individual
No, not to my knowledge. The contracts were written up by legal counsel for both parties. They included one signatory for each of Canada Soccer and Canadian Soccer Business. We signed on that basis.
Liberal
Anthony Housefather Liberal Mount Royal, QC
Okay.
Is it okay to violate your bylaws because the lawyer put one line on the document instead of two?
You didn't think you could sign below or above and make it valid?
Former President, Canada Soccer, As an Individual
As I said, it was inadvertent. It was an oversight. It was not deliberate. We executed it—
Liberal
Anthony Housefather Liberal Mount Royal, QC
You mentioned in your testimony that on March 23, 2018, Canada Soccer authorized the signature of these agreements that you signed on January 1, 2019.
What you're missing, Mr. Reed, is that Canada Soccer has changed its story. When they showed up here, that's what they claimed. I showed them that there were minutes in December 2018 showing that the board itself had clearly determined that it did not approve the deal because the deal was still being negotiated.
Then they showed up mysteriously with minutes of 7 February, 2019, where the board did approve the deal. You have a director named Ryan Fequet, who was on the board at the time, and he's quoted as saying:
The board recognized this was a s--t deal right from the start....
You should know about an organization you are partnering with if you are giving them literally all of your marketing rights. And every time we have asked for information about Canada Soccer Business, the board has been shut down. The board absolutely did not approve this contract.
Mr. Fequet was a member of the board on both of these dates.
How could he say this when you're claiming the whole board agreed?
Former President, Canada Soccer, As an Individual
I can't speak to Mr. Fequet's comments, but the board approved the agreement in March to move ahead to get legal counsel to draft all of the appropriate documents. There was another meeting in December, when there was a review of another iteration of the agreement and further non-substantive changes were made. The February 7 meeting was the final approval, when the board approved the agreement for me to sign on behalf of Canada Soccer.
Liberal
Anthony Housefather Liberal Mount Royal, QC
Again, let me understand this. I find this to be a very weird deal.
Why did you sole-source the agreement to CSB? You had others in the market, like Soccer United Marketing, which did the deals with Mexico and the United States and obtained substantially greater amounts of money.
Why did you decide to sole-source the deal to CSB?