Finance Committee on July 28th, 2020

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Mr. Angus.

[Craig Kielburger]

—and further, it's not a company, sir. It's a non-profit, with the proper structure in place of ultimate governance, with the staff of WE Charity, so quite literally, this is an appropriate—

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Your board was your employee.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Mr. Angus.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

That's not governance.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Mr. Angus, come on.

[Craig Kielburger]

With respect—

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

That's not governance.

[Craig Kielburger]

Actually, with respect, sir, you're incorrect in the statement. How the structure of governance was established, it was such that the WE Charity board of directors were the members. They had the ultimate authority through the legal governance and structure in place.

I say with respect that I know—

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

That's not what your former chair said. She said she didn't know why you set this up.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Mr. Angus, we are going to end the round there.

I will give you gentlemen an opportunity later to explain this scenario. I'll come back to this one myself with a question so we can have peace of mind—and quiet to get a decent answer.

We will go to Mr. Barrett, followed by Mr. Fragiskatos.

Mr. Barrett.

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

We need to get a total amount of all monies, all benefits, paid to individual members of the Trudeau family. Do you have that in front of you today, gentlemen?

[Marc Kielburger]

Sir, as requested, we're happy to provide that information to you. That was a question that also came from Mr. Poilievre, if I'm not mistaken. We—

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

So you commit to doing a full breakdown of expenses for each one of those individuals, not just for remuneration for speaking fees but also for gifts and other benefits, including covering of travel expenses?

[Marc Kielburger]

Sir, yes, we're happy to provide that information in terms of especially the reimbursement of travel expenses that was specifically requested.

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Okay.

So Ms. Margaret Trudeau was paid over a quarter of a million dollars in speaking fees. Did anyone else get this much money in speaking fees during that same period of time?

[Craig Kielburger]

Yes, sir. This was something where the practice was in place not to pay individuals to go on the WE Day stage, to be clear, but for auxiliary events that took place in various cities, often five or six events per time, where speakers were brought in. In any given year, a small list was identified to support in these types of auxiliary events.

Akin to a university lecture series, or non-profit gala fundraisers—many groups do this, sir.

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

To be clear, in your previous responses to questions, you did say the members of the Trudeau family were paid to attend WE Day events.

[Marc Kielburger]

Sir, it was the premise of WE Day, but the purpose of the speakers, and the remuneration of the speakers, was specifically for the auxiliary events. Margaret Trudeau came to speak about the issues surrounding mental health. Yes, she spoke on the WE Day stage, but she also provided time to come to the receptions, to have the opportunity to meet with individuals, to sign the books, to do all these additional events. It was a very significant ask of her time.

[Craig Kielburger]

Actually, it was two or three, typically, per city.

[Marc Kielburger]

She was at various [Inaudible—Editor].

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

At those events, how many other speakers were paid?

[Marc Kielburger]

The vast majority, sir, were done at no cost. It was a small group of speakers who would come, not just Madam Trudeau—again, not just to speak on the WE Day stage. As mentioned, it would be the additional, auxiliary events that we needed to support on some specific issues that were very relevant.

[Craig Kielburger]

Sir, I appreciate the heart of your question. In essence, I can answer your question directly by saying that it wasn't unusual what was taking place with her. It was a simple process that we had with others.

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

How much was Ms. Margaret Trudeau paid for speaking before November of 2015?