Evidence of meeting #50 for Finance in the 43rd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was cabinet.
A video is available from Parliament.
NDP
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
Mr. Chair, I did hear her say that they'd be providing the figures on the youth entrepreneurship program and the amount of money going to WE. That's something that I'd ask the clerk to follow up on.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
Yes.
While we're waiting for the minister, I do want to thank the analysts for that document they provided us, either today or yesterday, which outlines all the information that was supposed to come to us and from whom. I thought I kept reasonable notes and I obviously missed about half of them. I do want to thank the analysts for that good work, because it outlines what we're expecting to receive from various witnesses.
Does anybody know where the minister went?
Bloc
Rhéal Fortin Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC
I imagine she went to check who the parties were to the contract we have been talking about over the past few weeks.
Liberal
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
Dear, dear. Without the minister, we can't go anywhere here for a few minutes. I assume the technicians are trying to track her down.
The Clerk
Yes, Mr. Chair. She doesn't seem to be there anymore. We'll try to contact her and see if she can reconnect.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
She must have hit the off button rather than the video.
We didn't have these problems with the technology at the beginning as much as we're having them now. It seems strange.
Mr. Julian, you're getting an awful lot of time in this question period. You're up to pretty near 12 minutes.
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I know that I'll pay for that somewhere down the road.
Well, in answer to my final question, she did offer to provide the information that she didn't have at hand, so I consider my turn as concluded.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
Yes, but anyway, I think when she comes back on, maybe you'd better remake that point, just to be sure. That's if we get her back on here....
The Clerk
We're not able to get hold of her, Mr. Chair. You may want to suspend for a few minutes. We can try again.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
Okay.
We will suspend for a few minutes and give people to get a chance to get a glass of water or something.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
We will call the meeting back to order.
Mr. Julian just needed a point clarification on his last question. Then we will go to Mr. Poilievre.
NDP
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
Thanks, Minister Ng.
I'm sorry about the problems with the Internet, but my final question was on the actual administrative amounts or management amounts going to WE in the entrepreneurship program proposal. I gathered before you cut out that you were saying you didn't have that information but you would be providing it to the committee. Did I understand that correctly?
Liberal
Mary Ng Liberal Markham—Thornhill, ON
What I was saying was that on the social entrepreneurship program, the concept paper and proposal that was sent to me, I don't recall there being an amount to it. It really was a program and a proposal for social entrepreneurs.
My department reviewed the program and made a recommendation to me, which I accepted, which is that it really wasn't within my mandate. We were already working with Futurpreneur, and around that time we made a $20-million investment in funding to Futurpreneur because it was the quickest way to get that support to those youth entrepreneurs.
I'm happy to get back to you to see whether or not there was something in that proposal, but I don't recall any dollar amount. It didn't even get as far as that. It really was, “Is this a proposal that we would entertain?” Ultimately, the analysis and recommendation was “no”.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
Okay. If you could get back to us, that would be helpful, Minister.
We'll go to two more five-minute rounds. Mr. Poilievre and Mr. Fragiskatos will wrap it up.
Mr. Poilievre.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON
Since March 1, did you ever have any communications about WE with Katie Telford?
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON
Did your staff have any communications with any of these people about WE?