Evidence of meeting #26 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 know.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Who was on the call between the WE organization and the government on that day?
Liberal
Conservative
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
I believe it was Mr. Theis, and from WE, from what I understand, Craig and Marc Kielburger and Sofia Marquez.
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Who told the WE organization it was allowed to incur expenses as of that date?
Liberal
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Who told the WE organization it was allowed to incur expenses as of May 5?
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
You couldn't answer a lot of questions.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Chris Warkentin
Thank you, Mr. Barrett.
Now we will turn to Ms. Lattanzio.
I do apologize again, Mr. Barrett, for intervening early.
Ms. Lattanzio.
Liberal
Patricia Lattanzio Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for being here with us today, Mr. Minister.
I'd like to begin by thanking you for talking about ministerial accountability. It's really important that we all know that.
Earlier, my colleague, Mr. Fortin, talked about how we might get some answers if the witnesses who were supposed to be here didn't show up. You mentioned the House of Commons tradition whereby ministers appear at committee to answer MPs' questions. Thank you for that.
Mr. Minister, did Mr. Theis play a role in negotiating the contribution agreement with WE Charity? If not, who did?
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
Thank you for your question, Ms. Lattanzio. I'm happy to see you.
As I said earlier, Mr. Theis had one interaction with WE Charity. It was a 25-minute phone call with Ms. Marquez and the Kielburger brothers. It was a very general discussion during which WE Charity representatives talked about their work. Mr. Theis then directed them to officials at Diversity and Inclusion and Youth so they could talk to the people with the information they wanted. At no time was he involved in contract talks.
That kind of negotiation is carried out by public officials in the usual way.
Liberal
Patricia Lattanzio Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
Mr. Minister, I'd also like to talk about one date in particular: May 8, 2020.
That date was mentioned repeatedly in testimony by witnesses in other committees.
What concerns were raised on May 8, 2020, about WE Charity's proposed Canada student service grant agreement?
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
Many questions were asked about why that organization was recommended. Why weren't any other organizations involved? Why couldn't we have our own government organizations do the work? There were other questions about whether the organization in question was able to deliver these services and whether it could do so consistently everywhere in both official languages.
A number of questions were raised about all that.
Liberal
Patricia Lattanzio Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
On May 8, we also learned that the grant was removed from cabinet's agenda.
Why was the program withdrawn?
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
Questions were being asked. That was the first time it was submitted. The Prime Minister wanted to know why officials were suggesting that organization and why it couldn't be done internally.
There were several questions to which there weren't enough answers, so it was withdrawn from the cabinet meeting, but it came up again later.
Liberal
Patricia Lattanzio Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
Did Rick Theis talk to WE Charity representatives? If so, when did he do so, and what did they talk about?
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
On May 25, there was a 25-minute conversation with WE Charity representatives. The conversation took place at the request of WE Charity representatives. They contacted him to talk about their organization and its services, among other things.
As always, Mr. Theis did the right thing at the time. He directed them to the appropriate officials at Diversity and Inclusion and Youth.
Liberal
Patricia Lattanzio Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
At what point was Mr. Theis made aware of WE Charity's involvement?
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
If I remember correctly, it was in late April or early May, when the cabinet committee was getting ready for a discussion about COVID-19.
Liberal
Patricia Lattanzio Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
Mr. Minister, did you ever meet with WE Charity representatives? To your knowledge, did Mr. Theis ever meet with WE Charity representatives on a more personal level?
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
No, he didn't meet with them. I asked him that because I was coming here to answer questions about that. He didn't meet with them. There was no further communication between them after the 25-minute conversation on May 5, which was a general discussion.
Liberal
Patricia Lattanzio Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
Did they communicate with you, Mr. Minister?
Liberal
Patricia Lattanzio Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
Okay.
WE Charity sent its social enterprise proposal to the government in April 2020. Were you aware of the proposal in April 2020?