Canadian Heritage Committee on May 11th, 2023

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Thank you.

[Charmaine Crooks]

You're welcome.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much. I now go to the Liberals and Lisa Hepfner.

Lisa, you have five minutes, please.

[Lisa Hepfner, Liberal, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

I would like to echo some of my colleagues and thank Ms. Crooks very much for appearing here today and also for her amazing contributions to our country and our culture. We really appreciate that.

[Charmaine Crooks]

Thank you, Lisa.

[Lisa Hepfner, Liberal, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

I would like to ask you about something that I've been curious about since we had the women's team appear before us at committee. Shortly before they appeared before us, a press release came out from Canada Soccer that detailed a bit about the proposed collective agreement. I thought the timing was a little strange and was hoping that you could explain for us how that all happened.

[Charmaine Crooks]

As you may recall, there was a press release that outlined where we were in the labour negotiations. For that release, perhaps the timing may not have been the best timing, but the general secretary just wanted to make sure that information was out there. It was going to be out there, but the timing was just what it was.

[Lisa Hepfner, Liberal, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Okay. Thank you.

You did talk in your opening statement about ethical leadership and how it's necessary for good governance. You are also—I looked at your biography—a founding member of the IOC Ethics Committee. Would you tell us about what it means to have ethics in governance and how you envision and implement that?

[Charmaine Crooks]

As a member of that committee, we certainly dealt with a lot of the fallout that happened as a result of the Salt Lake City scandal, when many IOC members were removed. Also what we did was to set up the IOC code of ethics, which is now in place. These are the guiding principles about ethics in sport. They touch on governance. They touch on breaches. They touch on everything, as you would be well aware, that would be aligned with leadership and ethical principles in sport.

I was very proud of that work, but I also believe that this work and ethics in sport should permeate within all organizations, particularly here in Canada. We cannot be complacent when it comes to ethics in sport. I think we should always be evolving, and we should always have opportunities for dialogue. The work your committee is doing is part of that. It's setting that foundation. It really is setting that foundational work that gives us an opportunity not just to be better as an organization but to be better as Canadians.

[Lisa Hepfner, Liberal, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Thank you.

I think you've expressed to us at this committee today some of the processes you've implemented to try to make Canada Soccer more transparent and accountable. I don't know if there's anything you want to add to that, but I'd also like to ask you, because this has been a big story and a lot of people have been talking about Soccer Canada lately, is there anything out there that you feel has been misrepresented? Is there anything you would like to clarify for the public while you have a couple of minutes left?

[Charmaine Crooks]

I'm honoured to be part of an organization that goes from the grassroots all the way up to the national team level. That does present some of the complexities, of course, but I always look at sport as being sport for all, and soccer is for all. It's in every corridor of our country.

We want to make sure we have a framework and we have the opportunities, so that everyone is engaged: men, women and various diverse groups, from indigenous communities to the very multi-ethnic groups across our country. This is the kind of organization we want to build. Yes, it's one that is transparent and that's built on trust, and again, that's built on further transparency, but we also have our athletes. We have to make sure we do right by them, because they are the ones...their platforms are so powerful and so important, and they are the inspiration for our nation.

That's what drives me every day. We just want to put our arms around so many of the various groups that aren't a part of Canada Soccer and bring them in and let them feel that this is a safe environment that they can be a part of.

[Lisa Hepfner, Liberal, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Thank you, Ms. Crooks.

I'm not sure you have enough time to answer my next question fulsomely. We've spoken about this already today a bit, but I still don't fully understand why there has been such a disparity in the incomes of the men players and the women players. Perhaps you could give us some sort of brief afterwards or address it later in the committee and help us break this down and show us more clearly how you're going to achieve pay equity in soccer.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you, Lisa. Maybe Ms. Crooks can address that in a later question.

[Charmaine Crooks]

I'd be happy to. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you.

I now go to Mr. Lemire for two and a half minutes.

Thank you.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Ms. Crooks, are you the president of NGU Consultants?

[Charmaine Crooks]

Excuse me? I'm sorry?

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

Ms. Crooks, are you the president of NGU Consultants?

[Charmaine Crooks]

That is my consulting company, yes.

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

How many contracts have you, your spouse or a member of your family received as compensation from FIFA until now?

[Charmaine Crooks]

I have never received any compensation and have never had any work directed by FIFA to any of my companies, no.

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

What about members of your family?

[Charmaine Crooks]

No, nobody from my family has.

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

Have you ever received money from Canada Soccer when you were sat on the board?

You said that your current activities were carried out on a volunteer basis, but in the past is it possible that you received financial compensation for those activities?

[Charmaine Crooks]

I have never received any payment for any service. I've never provided any service for Canada Soccer except in my volunteer capacity as a member of the board.