Evidence of meeting #24 for Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was program.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Are there any investigations that you're aware of that are ongoing with respect to the events arising from...or the Canada student service grant that I haven't covered?
Founder, WE Charity
Well, yes. Of course, there's the Privacy Commissioner, the Ethics Commissioner, the lobbying commissioner, the official languages commissioner, the RCMP, the CRA, the FINA committee, the ethics committee, the procedure and House affairs committee—the nine different groups that these MPs have triggered.
We will co-operate fully with all of the various apolitical groups referenced.
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Thanks for answering the question. Initially, in the letter from your lawyer posted on Twitter, it said that you wouldn't answer questions with respect to those...but we have that answer.
At your July 28 finance committee appearance, you gave many undertakings to follow up, but there wasn't a prompt reply. A few weeks later, Parliament was prorogued and then we didn't receive those responses from your organization, your having felt that you were relieved from that commitment or undertaking.
Was there any reason for the delay in that response?
Founder, WE Charity
Mr. Barrett, we conducted ourselves by providing all undertakings in a reasonable time frame. You'd have to go ask parliamentary staff, but your parliamentary staff has had these undertakings now, sir, for months.
Founder, WE Charity
To be clear, sir, parliamentary staff.... Once the committee was dissolved, we were told not to direct it until prorogation stopped. We weren't the ones who prorogued government. As soon as government came back and we had a clerk to engage with, we handed over the undertakings.
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
When was the first time that you were aware that Parliament would be prorogued?
Founder, WE Charity
When we read it in the news—same as everybody else.
To be very clear, prorogation did no favours to our organization; it somehow made this seem like a larger issue than it is. We were very happy to hand over all the materials within the time frame originally outlined.
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Mr. Marc Kielburger, you testified at the finance committee that you did not have contact with Ms. Katie Telford.
Is that correct?
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
On April 13, 2020, is it not true that you did in fact have contact with Ms. Telford by way of an email?
Founder, WE Charity
Yes. As I said, she didn't reply to my email, but I did just send her an email congratulating the general government on the fact that there was a lot of work going on for the pandemic. I never received a reply.
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Why didn't you feel that it was germane to provide that detail to parliamentarians when asked about communication with this senior official in the Prime Minister's Office?
Founder, WE Charity
Mr. Barrett, if you check the transcripts, it was shared proactively by members of Parliament that the email had already been shared. The conversation we had is part of the FINA testimony.
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
What other communications have you had with Ms. Telford?
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
From the date of that email to which you say you did not receive a response, what other communications have you had with Ms. Telford after that point?
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
What communications did you have with Ms. Telford prior to that point?
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Will you undertake to provide that information to the committee in a written form?
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Chair, I would like it to be a request of the committee that the witnesses do undertake to provide that information in written form.
Founder, WE Charity
Just so we're clear on the nature of your request, are you asking about before she was in the civil service? Are you asking us to go all the way back to any communications we've ever had with her? Is there a time frame you could put to this?
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
I'm looking for communications that you had with her in your official capacity as the founders of the WE organization.
Liberal
