Industry Committee on March 4th, 2022

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

I'm thrilled that Magnet is going to do the really important work of matching young people to those businesses that are looking for that talent to take their business and go digital to boost their technology. We launched it just yesterday. I'm looking forward to those great businesses coming back and telling great stories of that digitization.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Thank you, Minister.

What is the dollar value of the contract with Magnet?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Perhaps we can get you that information at a later time.

What I can say is that the foundation of this program is about 30,000 placements for young people, which, by the way, during the pandemic, it's been so difficult for—

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Thank you, Minister. I'll get back to my time here.

There are only two streams for this. You announced it yesterday, and you don't know the dollar value for one of the two streams, which is really surprising.

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

I can tell you that 70,000 businesses for stream two will be able to boost their technology; 90,000 businesses will be able to take their business online, and 30,000 placements will give young people wonderful opportunities to help these businesses go digital.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Right. For those 30,000 placements, what's the cost? What is the cost of the contract with Magnet? You don't know what the cost is for those 30,000 placements.

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

This is a $4-billion program, a very robust program, to take our businesses digital. We know how important it is for our businesses, and not only to grow in their community. I mean, how many times, when we walk along our main streets, do we see that we are now going to curbside pickup and we are using technology to—

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Thank you, Minister. You're not able to answer, really, any questions about this program today.

Are you aware that Magnet was co-created by Ryerson University in 2014?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

I think Magnet is a terrific organization that has come through a competitive process to be able to deliver this really important program, which ultimately will help businesses go digital.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Minister, am I correct that you were executive director at the office of the president at Ryerson University in 2014?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Yes.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Minister, did you talk to the Ethics Commissioner prior to this contract being given to Magnet for the Canada digital adoption program?

[Han Dong, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

I have a point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

Madam Gray, just a moment as we have a point of order.

[Han Dong, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

Mr. Chair, I'm respectful of my opposition colleague's time, but I think the direction of the questions is drifting further and further away from what we are talking about today, which is the minister's mandate.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

This doesn't cut into my time. I hope you respect that this doesn't affect my time.

[Han Dong, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

No, it doesn't. I want to raise a point of order regarding relevance.

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

I appreciate your point of order, Mr. Dong, but the mandate letters are fairly broad, so I'll be lenient.

I hear your point of order.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister, did you talk to the Ethics Commissioner prior to this contract being given to Magnet?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

I would say that with respect to my mandate here, which is what we are talking about, what I'm really thrilled to be sharing with you and this committee is the importance of getting our businesses competitive—

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Minister, it was a yes or no question.

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

—and getting them on that road to economic recovery. Given that the present and future economy is one that is digital, this is—

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Minister, back to my time, you're not answering yes or no.

Minister, did any representatives from Ryerson University or Magnet directly approach you regarding involvement in these government programs or other government programs?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

What I want to say is that every element of this program went through a request for proposal process. The language of the RFPs is absolutely available. The RFP was also assessed independently by the civil service.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

So you're not willing to answer the question of whether you contacted the Ethics Commissioner regarding this matter.