Evidence of meeting #42 for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was finance.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Director General, Social Policy Directorate, Strategic Policy and Research Branch, Department of Employment and Social Development
That is definitely the idea. It's that you would achieve a double bottom line, a financial return and a social return, or a triple bottom line if you add environmental into the mix.
Conservative
Ray Boughen Conservative Palliser, SK
I still have a hundred questions but I'll wait because time is of the essence, Chair.
Thank you.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Phil McColeman
Well, you have more time, sir, if you wish to have it. You have another two minutes.
Conservative
Conservative
Ray Boughen Conservative Palliser, SK
Two minutes left. Look out.
Are there any regulations around this operation? It's known as social finance. Is there someplace where people can look it up? Is there a regulations book or a directory that tells you what it is that you do, what you don't do, and how you make the reports known to the public and to investors?
Director General, Social Policy Directorate, Strategic Policy and Research Branch, Department of Employment and Social Development
There is no official textbook on it, but I would say that the area is growing in abundance. In the three years that I've been working on it, there certainly is increasingly more information available to people. There, we have to thank the intermediaries that I talked about before, for putting out reports based on projects they've been involved in, but also the academic institutions that are starting to get involved.
Harvard has a lab that's looking at this with experienced people there who have worked in government but are also in academia. Increasingly, Canadian universities, in their business schools, are offering a social enterprise stream, so we're starting to build up expertise in that area too. There are also new books coming out on this in terms of how to do impact investing, so it's growing.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Phil McColeman
Thank you, committee members, for your indulgence. I know that we said this was going to be a one-hour meeting, but I have allowed some latitude here in this initial meeting. I would ask, committee members, if you would care to continue along the lines of questioning or move into committee business. Is there any desire to move into more questioning?
I see none, but I would like to, just before—
NDP
Sadia Groguhé NDP Saint-Lambert, QC
I suggest that we put the questions we haven't been able to ask in writing and that we continue—
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Phil McColeman
That's entirely possible. I'm at the wishes of the committee members. Certainly you can provide our witnesses with written questions and we can receive responses from them. I don't think there will be any objection to that, which is fine.
Might I just make a couple of comments and get your response to them. I think the difficult conceptual operation of social finance will become clearer as we hear from actual case studies and witnesses . Even I'm struggling a little bit with return on investment. Capital put into a business, I know what that means. I operated my own company for 25 years. I know what it means to seek capital, make money, give back to the bank or whoever was charging me interest on the working capital.
I think as we go on, committee members, what will happen is there will be more understanding of that in the social context of what's trying to be achieved.
That said, I would like to suggest to committee members that at a later point we may want to have Ms. Harty and Mr. McMurren back to committee for a more fulsome, perhaps conceptual look at this and to explore what's really working well in the other jurisdictions that have succeeded at this.
We held a social finance round table in my community over the past summer. It was well attended. Over 40 individuals attended. There was an eagerness, an excitement and a measurable energy in the room about the possibilities for various organizations, so I think it does hold a lot of promise in the social sphere.
Thank you for being here today.
Director General, Social Policy Directorate, Strategic Policy and Research Branch, Department of Employment and Social Development
You're welcome.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Phil McColeman
Thank you for taking the time, and we'll look forward to speaking with you more in the future.
We'll just take a very brief break while our witnesses leave and we'll move to committee business which will be in camera business.
[Proceedings continue in camera]