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Evidence of meeting #18 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was gillani.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #18 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was gillani.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:30 p.m.
Conservative
Jacques Gourde Conservative Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC
Mr. Guimond, we do not insult witnesses.
4:30 p.m.
Conservative
Jacques Gourde Conservative Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC
A point of order, Madam Chair. Mr. Guimond called me a fool in committee. Please, I demand an apology. I just said that Mr. Wright is a great man, a great Canadian and he called me a fool. Madam Chair, I raise a point of order and I am very serious right now. Will Mr. Guimond withdraw his comment? Yes or no?
4:30 p.m.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
Yes, Madam Chair, I went off on the wrong track. I withdraw my comment, but deep down, I am still thinking it.
4:30 p.m.
Conservative
Jacques Gourde Conservative Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC
Madam Chair, this is unacceptable. It is a hollow apology.
4:30 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Yasmin Ratansi
Okay, that's enough. We can't have childish behaviour.
Mr. Wright, thank you very much for being here.
We'll suspend for 30 seconds.
We are continuing our study on the green funds. We have before us Mr. Ian Harvey. I think we have committee business, so we can go until 5:20. The bells will ring at 5:30.
Mr. Harvey, do you have any opening remarks?
4:33 p.m.
As an Individual
First, I want to thank the House of Commons Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates for inviting me today to answer questions with respect to the renewable energy projects funding by the government.
I'm here to answer questions pertaining to what this committee has been established to investigate. However, as the committee may be aware, and as has been reported in the media, elements auxiliary and unrelated to the mandate of this committee are also being investigated. I hope I'm not put in a position to answer questions that could potentially compromise an ongoing investigation.
The following information is what I was party to with respect to the mandate of the committee. For reference, in February of 2009 my company, HD Retail Solutions, had begun discussions to engage Nazim Gillani and his company, International Strategic Investments, to raise capital in order for our company to execute its business plan. Formal agreements were drafted in March 2009 to this effect.
On August 25, 2009, I was invited to attend an afternoon meeting by Nazim Gillani at La Castile restaurant in Mississauga. I was introduced to Rahim Jaffer, and he provided me with his business card, a copy of which I'm going to submit to the committee as exhibit 1. He described his experience in and knowledge of government and a $100 million green fund he was somehow involved with. We presented our business plan, and he did not commit to funding or setting us up with funding at that time. The following day, August 26, 2009, I was surprised to receive a message from Mr. Gillani stating that he expected to receive a term sheet the following week from Mr. Jaffer for our company in the amount of $5 million at 2.4% interest and repayable out of net profits. This would have entirely fulfilled our capital requirement and allowed us to execute our business plan. This is submitted to the committee as exhibit 2.
We were thrilled at the prospect and awaited the term sheet. No such term sheet was forthcoming in the following weeks. I inquired of Mr. Gillani as to the status of this funding opportunity from time to time but never received a definitive response. On September 11, 2009, I received an e-mail from Mr. Gillani stating that “Mr. Jaffer has opened up the Prime Minister's office to us and as a result of that dinner--he today advised me that he is just as excited as we are and joining our team seems to be the next logical step.” This has already been submitted to the committee, I believe, but I also submit it as exhibit 3.
I'm not sure exactly why he sent me that message. I assumed it was to illustrate that he and Mr. Jaffer were increasing their engagement and perhaps to infuse some new hope that government funding was forthcoming for our business. I found out in the coming days, in the media, that Mr. Jaffer had been arrested for speeding, impaired driving, and cocaine possession in the early morning hours of September 11, 2009. After this news was reported, I wasn't hopeful of any government funding being made available for our business.
On October 16, 2009, I had inquired as to the status of our funding situation by e-mail to Mr. Gillani, and he replied that he was “just wrapping up with the funders and Rahim and Patrick”. This is submitted to the committee as exhibit 4. I assume those named individuals to be Rahim Jaffer and Patrick Glémaud. If true, this would indicate that ISI and GPG were still engaged at the time.
I did come forward in the media, subsequent to April 28, 2009, in response to some false statements made by Mr. Gillani to this committee. I can only speculate as to why Mr. Gillani made those statements. I do not feel it is pertinent to the matter in front of this committee or constructive to any of the affected individuals to elaborate on those speculations. Further, it may not be helpful to the ongoing investigations to delve further into what information may have been shared or inquired about on this matter. The deceptive conduct of certain individuals in businesses, some associated with and some not associated with this matter, has cost us our business and caused irreparable damage to our former company, HD Retail Solutions, which is now bankrupt as a result, and caused undue financial and other personal distress to the company's employees, investors, suppliers, and stakeholders in general. We accepted the information we received from those we were in business with as truthful and conducted our business on that basis. Our collective victimization as a result of that information and other actions is now being dealt with by the appropriate authorities. We continue to seek advice to determine whether any further course of action on our part is sensible.
From my perspective, our brief encounter with Mr. Jaffer and subsequent communications pertaining to the result of that meeting from Mr. Gillani were just a few of many elements in the rollercoaster ride of raised and dashed expectations that our company's employees, investors, suppliers, and stakeholders endured, as Mr. Donovan accurately mentioned in his article of April 30.
If the trust of the citizens of Canada has been somehow violated, as determined by this committee, I hope that justice is served. I'm here to assist in any fashion this committee deems appropriate. I invite the committee to ask any questions it may have of me with respect to the matter at hand.
4:35 p.m.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
A point of order.
Madam Chair, the witness mentioned some exhibits. I came to see you and you told me that he was going to submit them. A number of times during his presentation, the witness mentioned that he had sent those exhibits to the committee. I think we need them. There are four, one of which is Rahim Jaffer's business card. That would be relevant to the extent that it allows everyone to direct their questions appropriately. Could you ask the witness whether he submitted them to you or he will provide them to us immediately?
Could you also reassure the witness that he has parliamentary immunity? He started his presentation by saying that he was hoping his remarks will not compromise the investigation. We should perhaps reassure him and tell him that, no matter what he says, he is protected as a witness and he can testify freely and voluntarily.
4:40 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Yasmin Ratansi
Okay. So number one, you had stated in your presentation that you have a card that Rahim Jaffer gave and that you would give it to us in exhibit.
4:40 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Yasmin Ratansi
I can just send the clerk over.
And number two, the second thing was that you had stated that you were concerned about talking here, and Mr. Guimond is making it very clear that you have parliamentary protection, so you should have no worries when we ask you the questions.
4:40 p.m.
As an Individual
Again, I just want to clarify, the investigation isn't concerning what I've done. It's about what has happened to our company. So I just want to be clear that I'm not put in a position of jeopardy.
4:40 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Yasmin Ratansi
Fair enough. We will not ask questions regarding that, or we will try to ensure that things are limited.