Finance committee  Sir, we have a number of individuals with Ph.D.s we contract with, and on our staff, in the mental health—

Finance committee  We were looking to her to be a spokesperson to raise awareness on the subject. We have others who build the curriculum and can—

Finance committee  Sir, we—

Finance committee  Honestly, with great respect, sir, she has lived a life.... I have lost a sister-in-law from mental health issues. It's a lived experience issue; it's not an academic training issue. She has lived experience. One in five Canadians face this issue. To say that you have to have a

Finance committee  Sir, she is more than someone's mother or someone's wife. She is someone who, in her own right, has spoken extensively on mental health and is a hero to many. We invited her because she speaks on mental health. We invite individuals, from Gord Downie to Chantal Petitclerc, from

Finance committee  We're happy to seek that information. We have received support from PSPC, from Heritage and from environmental...for our work we've done with youth. There's been a variety, dating back between the current government and previous governments. We have specific dollar amounts, if yo

Finance committee  Absolutely. To be very candid, we're grateful for their support. Brian Pallister, a deep supporter of ours in Manitoba, its leader, frequently cheered on young people. We appreciate that Nazanin, Peter MacKay's spouse, has gotten on the stage on some empowerment things with us.

Finance committee  The eligible expenses are deeply outlined in the contract through an extraordinary amount of detail.

Finance committee  No minister, to our knowledge, were we in touch with in March at all, sir.

Finance committee  To my knowledge, looking at the timeline provided to me by my team and staff, the only touchpoint was with ESDC civil servants on March 6 when there was a comprehensive service learning white paper presented as per their request. That was with civil servants.

Finance committee  I can say with confidence, sir, that we did not, and the senior-most leadership was not in touch with anyone in the government in March. That being said, sir, we will check more broadly in the organization if there were any touchpoints that took place.

Finance committee  Yes, sir. I'm happy to speak to that. On April 7 there was a conversation with Minister Ng. It was a first-time, introductory phone call. It was the first time ever I spoke to her. On April 9, as per that conversation, I sent her a proposal that we had previously created on you

Finance committee  Correct. However, sir, I will tell you that I did, during the conversation.... He called me to ask questions about, generally, our view of the non-profit sector and youth. I did raise with him the fact that we had spoken to Minister Ng and submitted a proposal to her on social

Finance committee  Correct, sir. I would say that of the length of it, it was maybe two minutes; I mentioned it very quickly. But, yes, sir, I proactively did raise with him that we had submitted this to Minister Ng on April 9.

Finance committee  A different proposal, again, I have to underscore. Not an iterative...nothing to do with youth service; purely helping youth create businesses.