Evidence of meeting #45 for Finance in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was sir.
A video is available from Parliament.
Founder, WE Charity
Sir, WE did not engage her before November of 2015, from my best understanding.
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Okay: so she was only ever paid after November of 2015.
Founder, WE Charity
It was at that point, sir, that WE Days continued to grow, and we needed somebody to speak specifically on the issue of mental health. She came not as Madam Trudeau; she came as somebody who is very focused on that issue, something that's really relevant.
If I'm not mistaken, it's one in five Canadians.
Founder, WE Charity
Yes, one in five Canadians, and it's a big part of what we do with the Well-being Foundation.
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
I think other well-known Canadians who have spoken about mental health....
A name that would be known around kitchen tables would be someone like Theo Fleury, who was informed by you that you do not pay speakers. So I will set aside your qualifier at the end of your response.
Founder, WE Charity
No, sir, that was not it. The question [Inaudible—Editor]. It's a statement; it's actually—
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
That's right, and so I'm not.... So the floor is not yours.
Are there any ministers who have ever received any form of financial compensation whatsoever—fees, contracts, salary expenses, expense reimbursements, accommodations benefits, or anything whatsoever—from any organization with which you are involved?
Founder, WE Charity
First, sir, let me just say that we don't pay speakers for the WE Day stage, the few minutes they are there. We believe that's an honour to share the message with youth. We do for those who do two to three days of auxiliary events.
To answer your question now, sir, the only individual that question is relevant to as a cabinet member is Minister Morneau and the McCain family, and I believe that's on the public record.
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
So no other ministers?
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Okay. What about ministerial staff members? Was there any form of financial compensation whatsoever: fees, contracts, salary, expenses, expense reimbursements, accommodation, benefits, anything whatsoever? Yes or no, please.
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
So that would include Ms. Katie Telford,Minister Seamus O'Regan, Mr. Gerald Butts, Minister Mary Ng, Minister Bardish Chagger, Ms. Amanda Alvaro.
What about the organization ArtBound? Have they ever received a payment from any of your affiliated organizations?
Founder, WE Charity
I appreciate your raising that, sir. ArtBound funded very generously WE Charity through their extraordinary philanthropic commitments, and we appreciate their long-standing support in that matter.
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
So have they ever received payment?
Founder, WE Charity
No, no. To answer your question, sir, the funds have only gone one way, where they are fundraising. Specifically, it was for a school for music in East Africa, supporting an all-girls program in Kenya. They fundraised, but no benefits went the other way, sir.
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Just to tie that off, you're saying that no staff, past or present, of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or no staff member, past or present, of Minister Bill Morneau have received any compensation as outlined by me above?
Founder, WE Charity
To the best of our knowledge, we can make that blanket statement, sir, yes.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
That'll tie off that round, Mr. Barrett.
We'll go to Mr. Fragiskatos, followed by Mr. Cooper.
Liberal
Peter Fragiskatos Liberal London North Centre, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to both of you for coming to the committee.
I want to ask about the administration fee. How much would it have been had WE administered the Canada student service grant, and for what purposes? When we say “administration fee”, I'm not sure that many, if not most, Canadians understand what is meant by that. So could you—
Founder, WE Charity
I appreciate your asking that question. If I can start by clarifying, in fact it actually wasn't an administration fee; it was a program implementation fee. What I mean by that is.... Often in the charitable world, when people think of admin, they think back office or fundraising. The costs here were simply directly for reimbursements on the delivery of the program.
So to answer your question precisely, for the first 20,000 students, WE Charity has provided $14.5 million for all-inclusive aspects. It could have gone up to $34.78 million. What was included in those aspects? It was, for example, technology grants for students who needed access in rural areas, translation of resources for special needs students, coaching and support, the direct supervision of up to 20,000 students to support non-profits that couldn't otherwise mentor and support those students, working with non-profits to help translate their ideas to be COVID-safe and friendly, launching the web support, call centre support, insurance support, payment, T4 form follow-up six months later.
In short, this was a massive program launched during a pandemic to support up to 100,000 young people with a very high-tech program, because the emphasis was on students of greatest need. We were to target particularly indigenous and students in rural parts of Canada.
Liberal
Peter Fragiskatos Liberal London North Centre, ON
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you for that answer.
I am still left confused on a few things, though, Mr. Kielburger, namely the complex organizational structure. You have WE, and under that umbrella there are a number of entities. I'll just list these.
Founder, WE Charity
I can save you the time, sir. You already did before. I'm happy to speak to the question.
Liberal
Peter Fragiskatos Liberal London North Centre, ON
Sure. It's a partial list. We have WE Charity U.S., WE Charity U.K., ME to WE foundation based in the U.S., ME to WE foundation in Canada, WE Charity Foundation, WE Well-being Foundation of Canada, Well-being Foundation America Inc., We365 LP, We365 Holdings Inc., We365 GP Inc., Imagine 1 Day International Organization, and there's ME to WE Social Enterprise.
Could you explain what this structure is all about? I think people look at this and have, justifiably so, some questions. It's a charity on the one hand, but why is there this labyrinth that exists under it? What is that all about?