Canadian Heritage Committee on May 11th, 2023

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

You can come back to that line of questioning later on if you wish.

We need to go to the Bloc Québécois and Martin Champoux.

I'm sorry. I think it's Mr. Lemire.

Sébastien, you have six minutes, please.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I would like to begin by mentioning an announcement made by Minister St‑Onge and which affects our work.

There are many things which show that this committee listens. I want to repeat that we expect an independent public inquiry to be called as soon as possible.

Ms. Crooks, thank you for being here.

I would like to add my voice to that of Ms. Ciara McCormack, who asked committee members via social media to ask you the following question.

During the years you were on the Canada Soccer board of directors, what did you do to remove Mr. Bob Birarda, a coach who was abusing female athletes and was constantly around young athletes? When was he permanently suspended?

[Charmaine Crooks]

Excuse me. May I please ask for a repetition of the last part of your question? I'm sorry.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

What did you do to remove coach Bob Birarda? We know that the board of directors had been made aware of the allegations against Mr. Birarda.

When was he permanently suspended so that he could not join other federations?

[Charmaine Crooks]

Thank you.

Regarding your question, first of all I want to say how deeply saddened we all were when the board was made aware in 2019 of these allegations. One thing that was done immediately was to ask a board member with appropriate experience to reach out to the former members. As you know, a staff member also did that, and it was also an opportunity to have some additional input.

At that time, when that incident occurred.... I was not on the board in 2008 when the matters related to Mr. Birarda happened, but in 2019 I can assure you that there was immediate action to close those gaps in the certification system. The mechanisms were not in place when that happened in 2008. They are now, and the safe sport roster and all the matters we are doing to do that would ensure that this would never happen again.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

If I may, I'd like to stay on this topic.

In July 2019, you were on the board when safe sports were discussed and you requested that the meeting be rescheduled to October 2019.

Why did you not take this opportunity to discuss Mr. Bob Birarda's case at that time?

[Charmaine Crooks]

I was not on the board in 2008. My term at Canada Soccer started in 2013.

We all became aware of the information about Mr. Birarda in 2019. You've had several former presidents who have been to this committee who have also shared their insights on this matter.

Our actions are what we did after 2019. I'm very confident that our safe sport roster, which continues to be improved through the McLaren report and through the work of Allison Forsyth, would ensure that it would never, ever happen again.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Why is your most recent financial report, as of today, not in the Corporations Canada registry or on your website, despite what good transparency practices and regulations require?

[Charmaine Crooks]

This is something I have certainly advocated for, for a very long time. In our AMM just recently, we approved that all of our minutes and all of our financial records will be posted online, which is a governance best practice. We finally have an opportunity...and this will be shared in the interests of further transparency for the organization.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Can you tell us when that will happen?

[Charmaine Crooks]

I'm sorry, but I didn't hear you.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

When will that happen?

[Charmaine Crooks]

We hope to have this up very shortly. We're working on it now.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Can you be more specific and tell us what you mean by « very shortly»?

[Charmaine Crooks]

The AMM just completed a few days ago, so our team is working on making sure all of our financial records and minutes are posted publicly.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Will it happen in June?

[Charmaine Crooks]

I'm happy to get you the exact date. We'll make sure to inform this committee as soon as that information is up.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

We will obviously have to hold another meeting.

We've talked a lot about Canada Soccer's financial management over the past two years. According to the most recent reports, Canada Soccer is in the red, a red even deeper than the Nike jerseys worn by national teams. Many current and former players have stated that Canada Soccer handcuffed itself by entering into an agreement that did not financially consider the progress of national teams or the well-being of athletes. Both male and female players were neglected.

How do you explain that the organization's precarious health persists despite the positive outlook for progress?

Why do you think this is, since you helped to make those decisions?

[Charmaine Crooks]

The current deficit has been attributed to the board's decision to retroactively pay our women's national team on the basis, of course, of equal pay. Also, the costs from some recent men's national team matches have allowed us to be where we are now, not to mention the COVID–19 recovery and also the very extensive travel that had to be taken over the past year for our respective teams to travel to World Cup and training competitions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much, Mr. Lemire.

I go now to the New Democrats and Peter Julian.

Peter, you have six minutes.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Thank you.

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

It's Ms. Zarrillo sitting in for Peter Julian today.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Welcome.

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

I wanted to start by recognizing your outstanding achievements in Olympic sports. Thank you so much for that.

You mentioned at the top of the hour that it's a volunteer position. Has this presidency role always been a volunteer position?