Sir—
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.
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.
4:10 p.m.
Conservative
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
We'll go to the question, and then we'll come to the answer.
Mr. Cooper, the floor is yours.
4:10 p.m.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
I want to go through some of the proposals you've submitted. You've gone through them. There was one on April 9. There was one on April 22. There was one on May 4. Is that right?
4:10 p.m.
Founder, WE Charity
I'm unsure of the May 4 one you're referring to, sir, but there was one on the 9th on youth entrepreneurship and one on the 22nd on—
4:10 p.m.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
Okay, fine. I'm referring to Ms. Kovacevic. She said there was one she received from ESDC on May 7 that had been submitted on May 4, which had been provided by WE Charity. That's what I'm—
4:10 p.m.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
Okay, so there were two proposals. One was about a 10-page proposal; the other was a 22-page proposal. Who was involved in preparing those proposals?
4:10 p.m.
Founder, WE Charity
Certainly, sir, I'd be happy to speak to it.
The first, which you referenced as the 10-page proposal, was a pre-existing proposal we already had on youth entrepreneurship, which we repurposed within short order to serve on this particular issue around entrepreneurship.
I'm not sure of the exact word count, but I believe you. The 22-page proposal included the original one on youth entrepreneurship and a second one that was created at the request of Ms. Wernick, on how a national service initiative could be created as per the policy objectives of what she identified. So we submitted both together, expressing our—
4:10 p.m.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
Okay. Thank you for that.
Who was involved in preparing it? How many people, for both proposals?
4:10 p.m.
Founder, WE Charity
It's a good question, sir. I'd have to get the exact.... We have a strategy team; we have a finance team; we have a youth entrepreneurship and development team. So we would have people potentially involved in a variety of manners. If I recall, it was entirely a Word document, so I think one person took the primary lead in typing the pages.
4:10 p.m.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
Of course, a whole team, and they would have been doing things, including research, planning....
4:10 p.m.
Founder, WE Charity
She asked us on the 19th, and we gave it to her on the 20th, so it would have been pretty quick.
4:10 p.m.
Founder, WE Charity
The reason being, we already had a whole series of work on social entrepreneurship, because that's what we do. And it's the same on service, sir. We had previously submitted a white paper to the government on this very topic.
4:10 p.m.
Conservative
4:15 p.m.
Founder, WE Charity
We submitted it.... It was dated, as you'll note, on the 21st.
4:15 p.m.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
How many hours would have been involved in researching, compiling information, drafting?
4:15 p.m.
Founder, WE Charity
Sir, I understand what you're seeking to get at here. The simple matter of this, sir, is that we have vast.... I'm happy to walk you through the document, and anyone on the committee. You'll see how the document is structured: bios on our key leaders, which is pretty quick to put together; an overview of our previous national service programs, and we're able to cut and paste those; our best practices—
4:15 p.m.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
I've asked you a question. I have the two proposals. I've gone through them. I'm just asking you to give me a number, an approximate number. How many hours?
4:15 p.m.
Founder, WE Charity
A handful of hours, sir. It would have been a pretty quick turnaround because—
4:15 p.m.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
A handful, okay. You're under oath. So it was just a handful of hours to do the research and preparation for the April 9 proposal.