Evidence of meeting #51 for Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was conservative.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Kasra Nejatian  As an Individual

8:05 p.m.

Conservative

Patricia Davidson Conservative Sarnia—Lambton, ON

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I have a quick comment and a question to make. I too want to thank you very much for being here and answering forthrightly. I understand this is a difficult situation for you to be in as well.

You've talked about different things. We've talked a little about the need, or not, for more training, whichever way we've talked about it. You've freely admitted that it was definitely just a dumb mistake, and mistakes are made. What can you tell us as a “go forward”, so that other staff members wouldn't face a situation like this? What would you recommend?

8:05 p.m.

As an Individual

Kasra Nejatian

Mr. Chair, I can't. I find myself in a position where I'm asked to give advice to people who are much more experienced at this than I am. I believe I received adequate training while I was in the minister's office.

I can't tell you how much I wish this mistake hadn't happened, for no other reason than the fact that I loved that job. It is an unfortunate mistake. I'm deeply apologetic for it. I've tried my best to remedy the situation by taking what I thought would be the appropriate action, which was to offer my resignation.

I don't want to suggest that such mistakes happen. I believe all political staffers, Conservative or otherwise, come here with the best of intentions. I have friends in all parties, and I'm deeply apologetic, especially to those folks who come up here to do this type of work, for any embarrassment I may have caused them.

8:05 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Shawn Murphy

Do you want to go on, Mr. Siksay, for five minutes?

8:05 p.m.

NDP

Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC

Thank you, Chair.

Mr. Nejatian, I have to say that you need a union. If you're working those kinds of hours, it's not surprising that you screw up eventually. I don't think any human being can work those kinds of hours and do so effectively and efficiently. If this is the standard that is demanded of people working for this government, it doesn't surprise me that people screw up and then lose their jobs.

That's coming from somebody who works long hours himself. I have to get that in there, because something's wrong with this picture if we're hiring somebody who's never worked on the Hill before, giving him responsibility in a minister's office in a complicated job, and not really training or supervising him, and then six weeks later something bad happens and he takes the fall for it.

I'm a little frustrated from the point of view of someone who was a staff person for many years on the Hill before I got this job. There's something wrong with this picture, and I don't think we're going to get that here. But the more I hear about it--and I don't really want you to comment on that, because that's neither here nor there.

I want to ask you, though, who was responsible for training you in office procedure, or was it assumed that because you were the director, you didn't need that, and somebody else was going to assist you with office procedure?

8:10 p.m.

As an Individual

Kasra Nejatian

No, I received a briefing. I sat down with the person who had been doing my job on an acting basis, for a couple of hours, I'd say. I'm ashamed to say that the topic of letterhead just never came up; it just didn't.

8:10 p.m.

NDP

Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC

Okay.

Now the minister is quoted in The Hill Times as saying, and I'll quote:

Anything that's of a strictly partisan or political nature such as fundraising, I do on my own personal letterhead using my own stamps that I've bought with my own money. That's the procedure in our office. It wasn't followed in this case.

Did you know that the minister had his own supply of letterhead and his own stash of postage stamps someplace to do that kind of work in his office?

8:10 p.m.

As an Individual

Kasra Nejatian

I was certainly aware that the minister had his own letterhead. I think from time to time the minister purchases, or at least he had an assistant purchase, out of his pocket, some stationery and some stamps.

I have to admit that I have never put a stamp on a letter, so I wouldn't know where to find them.

8:10 p.m.

NDP

Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC

Yes, that's a generational thing.

8:10 p.m.

As an Individual

Kasra Nejatian

I mean, in the six weeks I was there....

8:10 p.m.

NDP

Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC

Did you have any supervisory responsibilities for staff other than your administrative assistant? What about regional multicultural staff?

8:10 p.m.

As an Individual

Kasra Nejatian

I shared supervision for a few MRO staff. They technically don't report to me. They report to the MRO directors...and they report to me also, I suppose.

8:10 p.m.

NDP

Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC

Who are those folks?

8:10 p.m.

As an Individual

Kasra Nejatian

There were two folks in Vancouver, two in Toronto, and there was an additional person in Montreal.

8:10 p.m.

NDP

Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC

Is the current Conservative candidate nominated in Burnaby—Douglas one of the people who was a regional representative?

8:10 p.m.

As an Individual

Kasra Nejatian

The current Conservative candidate in Burnaby-Douglas was a member of the MRO.

8:10 p.m.

NDP

Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC

Okay.

Did you ever have any contact with Conservative Party fundraising officials in the course of your six weeks in the minister's office?

8:10 p.m.

As an Individual

Kasra Nejatian

I think I spoke once with a fellow, whose name I forget, about how the party's fundraising was going. It was...I have to admit I think it was on Sparks Street.

8:10 p.m.

NDP

Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC

Okay. With regard to the document that was attached to the letter, who gave you that document? Who provided that document to you? Did the minister provide that document to you?

8:10 p.m.

As an Individual

Kasra Nejatian

The party's advertising agency provided a fairly long document that included some of the information that's in there. I took out some of the pages that were there and added a few pages of my own.

8:10 p.m.

NDP

Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC

Who referred you to the agency?

8:10 p.m.

As an Individual

Kasra Nejatian

I believe the agency had been working with the party before I showed up.

8:10 p.m.

NDP

Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC

Did the minister tell you to call the agency and get this document? How did you get the actual copy of the document?

8:10 p.m.

As an Individual

Kasra Nejatian

I don't think the minister actually referred me to the agency. I'm trying to remember who told me about the agency. I think it was the person who had done the legwork before I showed up and who is no longer on the Hill.

8:10 p.m.

NDP

Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC

So this was a project that started before your conversation with the minister about the project?

8:10 p.m.

As an Individual

Kasra Nejatian

Yes. I think the Conservative Party had been working on this ethnic outreach campaign for some time. I was only involved in it for...I think about a couple of days before I showed up.