Thank you for pointing that out, Ms. Gaudreau. I will slow down.
Let us have a very brief recap of one of the finance committee meetings on this point. I will point out that it was much more informative and relevant than the testimony of some of the other witnesses that had been called before us on this study. As Craig Kielburger said:
When Employment and Social Development Canada asked us to administer the Canada student service grant, we regret that we didn't recognize how this decision would be perceived. We would never have picked up the phone when the civil service called, asking us to help young Canadians get through the pandemic, if we had known the consequences: that young people would not get the help they need now and that 25 years of WE Charity's programs helping millions of youth would be in jeopardy.
What a disgrace or shame that the founders of this organization, which has been helping elected officials from all parties and thousands of other people for the past 25 years, were, in many people's eyes, unfairly badgered during their appearance. Much of the focus was on whether, somehow, the Kielburgers were in it for the money. They promised to provide their T4 slips to the committee. I do note that they have already posted online the information with regard to their remuneration. I would like to read what it says into the record.
The independent review was undertaken by:
...the Honourable Stephen Goudge, a respected Canadian jurist who served on the Ontario Court of Appeal from 1996 to 2014. In 2013, Justice Goudge received the Law Foundation of Ontario’s Guthrie Award for his outstanding contributions to Canada’s justice system.
Mr. Goudge wrote:
A. WE’s compensation of Craig and Marc Kielburger
I have reviewed a statement from the Chair of WE Charity’s board of directors, a statement from members of WE Charity’s board, a statement from the CFO of WE Charity and ME to WE, a letter from ME to WE’s accountants, and Craig and Marc Kielburger’s 2017 and 2018 T4 statements of remuneration.
Craig and Marc Kielburger’s T4 slips show that they each received an income of $125,173.02 from ME to WE in 2018, and that they each received an income of $113,461.54 from ME to WE in 2017. The CFO of ME to WE and WE Charity certifies that these amounts represent the full extent of any payments which the Kielburgers received from ME to WE in these years. WE’s CFO also certifies that neither Craig nor Marc Kielburger has ever received any form of salary from WE Charity or its predecessor, Free the Children. This is also the collective understanding of WE Charity’s board of directors.
WE’s CFO further certifies that neither Craig nor Marc Kielburger have ever received dividends from ME to WE. Moreover, ME to WE’s accountants state that ME to WE has never distributed—