Canadian Heritage Committee on Feb. 12th, 2026

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon South, SK]

I do know you grant them money for the program. There is a connection with your department.

The other question is, where are we on Marie Chapman at the Museum of Immigration at Pier 21? The situation is that she was CEO and it was alleged that she mistreated staff. She was on leave. I see you have an interim leader. Where is that situation?

I know you've only been on the job for four weeks, but can you update us quickly?

[Francis Bilodeau]

Yes, I'm quite aware of the situation. Marie is no longer the CEO. There is an interim CEO. I've had a conversation with the chair about the measures. I know that there was a report by the Ethics Commissioner. I've had conversations with the chair around what measures are being put in place within the organization to ensure the health of the organization. The health of the organization and its employees is very important to us.

Obviously, as you mentioned, I'm still in early days, but at this point the report is out and Marie is no longer the CEO of the organization.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon South, SK]

Yes, I saw some very derogatory comments in the investigation of it. I hope she or the department would take them back. It affected a lot of staff.

[Francis Bilodeau]

I have to be honest; I was not there or privy to.... I was not at the department when any of the allegations were made.

There has been an investigation and there has been a response by the CEO to the findings of the commissioner. Those are the facts as they are. The fact is that at present we have an interim CEO.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon South, SK]

The national museums, as you know, in the precinct, along with Winnipeg and Halifax, get a lot of money—the most money of any when you're talking about national museums. How close are we with the RCMP museum in Regina? They want it to be a national museum. We had a discussion here on this side about small and medium.... I was at the MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina. Congratulations to them. They actually had the Governor General's Awards in their museum this year, for the first time ever. The small and medium art galleries and museums—thank you to Ms. Thomas for bringing this up—deliver a lot, and sometimes they're missed.

I wanted to say that to you, Mr. Bilodeau, because sometimes when we go through there, they're struggling more than the national museums, if you don't mind my saying it.

[Francis Bilodeau]

I think that's an important point. I appreciate your flagging that to me.

I don't know if any of my colleagues, with regard to the RCMP museum.... I am aware of it, but I couldn't tell you the exact status. I think you bring a really important point for our consideration.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon South, SK]

Coming from industry, you would know that the telecommunications companies in this country control most of the media, the big telcos.

I did see two long-term stations, Pattison and Stingray, in Medicine Hat and Lloydminster, go dark just seven months ago, just like that. I think it's because of the legislation of Bill C-18. They did not deliver the money they said they were going to. It's been a disaster since day one. Now we see backroom cash deals with Google, which was talked about by my colleague. I really feel that local news is dead in these communities. Now I see CBC trying to move into Yorkton, Swift Current and Moose Jaw. The local people of these communities—for 50 or 60 years, I might add—are entrenched. When they went dark in June...and I see many more going dark in the coming months, and I'm concerned about this.

You're from industry, so you dealt with the telcos. I know—

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Thank you, Mr. Waugh. I can tell you're passionate about this. I am too. I appreciate it.

I just want to update the committee. The clerk found that the minister did respond to the question about the Anti-Hate Network back in November. Perhaps we can recirculate it to the committee so that we have that. It was a timely response from the minister.

Mr. Al Soud, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Fares Al Soud, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to our officials for being here today.

I've said it time and again. I think the World Cup creates an incredible opportunity to showcase our beautiful country. It's especially great for host cities, but there are countless ridings across our country, mine included, that will also be looking for ways to participate in the World Cup.

My first question is, beyond the host cities, how does the department anticipate that investments will generate meaningful economic, cultural and sport-developing benefits across the country?

I have a secondary question. Is there a mechanism to track regional participation or spinoff benefits outside the host jurisdictions?

[Francis Bilodeau]

I'm going to ask Mr. Brown to answer.

As the minister noted earlier, Secretary van Koeverden has been leading a lot of the efforts, supported directly by Andrew.

I will turn to Andrew.

[Andrew Brown]

As you indicated, the co-hosting of this year's FIFA World Cup offers tremendous opportunities for Canada, both in terms of attracting tourists and those dollars and also in terms of showing off the country and attracting economic investments.

It's important to recognize that, in terms of the FIFA World Cup, it is an event that is hosted by FIFA, not by Canada or the other countries. We play a particular role in terms of supporting them as organizers who are working very closely with the host cities of Toronto and Vancouver and with the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia, and, I might also add, the local first nations: the Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh and Squamish in British Columbia and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation in Toronto.

Some of the work that is under way is absolutely taking a look at how some of the excitement can be brought to other parts of the country. You will have heard that FIFA announced recently that they will have a sort of caravan that is going to be travelling across the country. In fact, there are going to be two: one that starts in the west and moves east, and one that starts out east and moves west, to really involve communities.

There's also a lot of work that's going on toward looking at some of the legacy that can be left behind after the tournament. This is an area where we at Heritage are looking at how we may be able to contribute and what sort of funding may be able to be provided to ensure that there is, in fact, a legacy that goes across the country.

Certainly, it is the host cities of Toronto and Vancouver that are leading in their respective areas and working with their provincial counterparts to see what can be done predominantly, obviously in those cases, in British Columbia and in Ontario. There is much work continuing.

Just to be clear, in terms of the figures earlier, it's $220 million that the Government of Canada has provided to the host cities of Toronto and Vancouver to support the operations in relation to staging the 13 World Cup games in Canada. The additional roughly $100 million that's been allocated and was announced in budget 2025 is largely towards the safety and security costs that are going to be borne by federal organizations such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Public Safety, Transport Canada and CBSA, in terms of some of the impacts that this will have. There are smaller amounts of money that we've received at Canadian Heritage that are about helping to support legacy across the country and helping in terms of indigenous engagement and sports diplomacy.

Those are some things that Secretary of State van Koeverden is engaged in right now as he is currently at the Olympics.

[Fares Al Soud, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Brown.

That was a very thorough response. You pre-empted three of my questions, so I appreciate that.

I have one final one on FIFA for you. How are departments currently working together in terms of preparing for the World Cup and coordinating responses? I know you mentioned that the bulk of this is obviously from the organizer, but how are departments across the board supporting that?

[Andrew Brown]

We have put in place a number of different mechanisms. Some are more formal, and others are more informal.

I think a very key element has been a sort of governance mechanism that's been put in place over a number of years at this point. That's not limited to the federal government. In fact, that involves all of those I mentioned before, the various orders of government, the cities and provinces, as well as FIFA itself and the federal government. I should clarify that the same indigenous first nations that I spoke to are also involved in that process.

At the federal level itself, I would largely speak to ad hoc deputy-level meetings that are held to coordinate and discuss issues of importance in terms of more general matters related to FIFA. They have been taking a look at some of the assurances that the Government of Canada provided when bidding for the World Cup back in 2018. There's also another group that is more focused on those security elements. That's been led more by Public Safety and the PCO national security adviser's office.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Thank you.

We are at the end of our typical time for this committee, but there has been a request for another lightning round if the officials can stay for another six minutes.

Is that okay?

[Francis Bilodeau]

We can certainly do a lightning round.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Okay.

Mr. Généreux, you have the floor.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Côte-du-Sud—Rivière-du-Loup—Kataskomiq—Témiscouata, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you all for being here.

Canada Day has been celebrated for many years. I understand that some municipalities have been receiving less funding than they used to. Have you noticed that, Mr. Bilodeau, or am I dreaming?

[Francis Bilodeau]

I'm not aware of that. I don't know if any of my other colleagues have noticed it, but if you're reporting it, I'll check into it.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Côte-du-Sud—Rivière-du-Loup—Kataskomiq—Témiscouata, QC]

I would appreciate that. I promote all the programs, so I try to make sure we can celebrate our country, even in Quebec, where it often goes unnoticed.

[Francis Bilodeau]

What I can say is that in budget 2025, there's an additional $20 million for Canada Day. Those funds are not just focused on Ottawa; they will also be used for activities across Canada. I'm not aware of any funding cuts.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Côte-du-Sud—Rivière-du-Loup—Kataskomiq—Témiscouata, QC]

At Canadian Heritage, how many programs do you have in total? Can you give me a total?

[Francis Bilodeau]

We have about 30 programs. I don't have the exact number.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Côte-du-Sud—Rivière-du-Loup—Kataskomiq—Témiscouata, QC]

Before the meeting, we had a little side discussion, and I was asking you if there was any money set aside for infrastructure. You told me that there had been some, but that you were no longer taking on new files because it had been transferred to Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada.

If I may, for the public good and that of my colleagues around the table, I'm giving you the opportunity to explain to us what's happening at Canadian Heritage with regard to cultural infrastructure.

[Francis Bilodeau]

Thank you, Mr. Généreux.

Maybe I'll turn to Ms. Montminy in a second.

Historically, we've always had a program called the Canada cultural spaces fund. As part of the government-wide cost-cutting exercise, efforts were made to eliminate duplication between departments and to limit certain activities to departments better placed to focus their efforts on them.

In our case, it's meant a reduced envelope for cultural spaces in Canada. That said, projects currently under review are still eligible. There are significant envelopes for infrastructure, including provincial and municipal infrastructure, within Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada. The primary liaison is now Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada. We certainly have a number of ties with that department, so we're still a useful link between our stakeholders and the Department of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities.

Ms. Montminy, do you have anything to add?

[Joëlle Montminy]

I agree with everything the deputy minister said—