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.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Michelle Douglas  Former Chair of the Board of Directors, WE Charity, As an Individual
Clerk of the Committee  Ms. Caroline Bosc
Marc Kielburger  Founder, WE Charity
Craig Kielburger  Founder, WE Charity

2:20 p.m.

Bloc

Marie-Hélène Gaudreau Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC

Can I please have her name?

2:20 p.m.

Founder, WE Charity

Craig Kielburger

Sofia Marquez.

2:20 p.m.

Bloc

Marie-Hélène Gaudreau Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC

Very good.

Do you know if she is registered with the Registry of Lobbyists?

2:20 p.m.

Founder, WE Charity

Craig Kielburger

No. Given her previous work and the multitude of stakeholders she engages, she is not on a formal registry.

2:20 p.m.

Bloc

Marie-Hélène Gaudreau Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC

Okay.

I am very familiar with the structure of not-for=profit organizations. Can we see WE Charity's by-laws?

2:20 p.m.

Founder, WE Charity

Marc Kielburger

Could you clarify in terms of the general rules, please?

2:20 p.m.

Bloc

Marie-Hélène Gaudreau Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC

It is the basic document, the one that lays out all the details on the governance and operating structure of a not-for-profit organization.

2:20 p.m.

Founder, WE Charity

Marc Kielburger

We're certainly happy to take that back and seek greater clarification.

2:20 p.m.

Bloc

Marie-Hélène Gaudreau Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC

I will be even more specific. In Quebec, certainly, those by-laws have to be prepared.

What are your organization's interests or assets in Quebec?

2:20 p.m.

Founder, WE Charity

Craig Kielburger

We do not hold formal assets in Quebec. Although a Montreal office has been active and we've done 11 years of WE Day and programming, there is no formal ownership. The bank account is based—

2:20 p.m.

Founder, WE Charity

Marc Kielburger

From the best of our understanding, there's no.... This is a very specific question, as you can appreciate, and this is the best of our understanding.

2:20 p.m.

Bloc

Marie-Hélène Gaudreau Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC

I have one last question, Mr. Chair.

2:20 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter

Make it the last question, Ms. Gaudreau.

2:20 p.m.

Bloc

Marie-Hélène Gaudreau Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC

Last week, a witness told us that your organization was able to provide students' personal data to the Liberal Party of Canada for electoral purposes.

Is that true?

2:20 p.m.

Founder, WE Charity

Craig Kielburger

If a fraction of what we've heard over the past four weeks were true—what has been published in the media, shared on social blogs or even shared by various politicians—our faces would go pale. This is one of the many things that are incorrect and being circulated.

2:20 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter

Mr. Angus, you're up for two and a half minutes.

2:20 p.m.

NDP

Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Sofia Marquez does government relations with you. Her bio says she works as a liaison with government, yet she's not registered to lobby. Why don't you guys register to lobby the government?

July 28th, 2020 / 2:20 p.m.

Founder, WE Charity

Craig Kielburger

I'm happy to speak to the question, sir.

Sofia Marquez does government and stakeholder relations, if I may just correct you, sir. That's her title. She engages a multitude of stakeholders across provincial governments—

2:20 p.m.

NDP

Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON

But why don't you register to lobby?

2:20 p.m.

Founder, WE Charity

Craig Kielburger

We don't because engagement with the federal government is a relatively.... It has never been more than a few percentages of our budget. In fact, last year it represented 1.03% of—

2:25 p.m.

NDP

Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON

How little money you get has nothing to do with the legal obligations; it's about how much time is spent. In the last month, you've been heavily involved in programs with Minister Chagger and Minister Ng, and Bill Morneau's office has been involved. Are you telling me that somebody in your office wasn't spending at least 7.5 hours a week doing this? I ask because that preparation—

2:25 p.m.

Founder, WE Charity

Craig Kielburger

I'm happy to speak to that, sir.

2:25 p.m.

NDP

Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON

—is lobbying. Why don't you register to lobby?

2:25 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter

Okay, it's time to answer.

2:25 p.m.

Founder, WE Charity

Craig Kielburger

Thank you.

To clarify this point, the government came to us and asked for assistance in a program. Previous to this point, it was highly unusual for us to be spending any significant amount of time with the federal government on these types of proposals.