Evidence of meeting #34 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 sauvé.
A recording is available from Parliament.
9:30 a.m.
Bloc
9:30 a.m.
Bloc
Marc Lemay Bloc Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC
Are you still the president and officer responsible for that marketing firm?
9:30 a.m.
Bloc
Marc Lemay Bloc Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC
You work alone.
Do you have frequent meetings with people who, quite obviously, work in Ottawa but are often in the Montreal area? It seems you have your headquarters in the Montreal metropolitan area.
9:30 a.m.
As an Individual
Yes, but I have never discussed business at that restaurant with a minister or with a members of Parliament or with... Senator Nolin moreover knows my business well.
9:30 a.m.
Bloc
Marc Lemay Bloc Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC
However, to open doors, it's a good thing to be in contact with people you know well, who have lunch with you and who can open doors to potential clients that you have.
9:30 a.m.
Bloc
Marc Lemay Bloc Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC
You opened some doors for Mr. Sauvé. You helped him in his business. Is it the only contract in Ottawa that led you to work for Mr. Sauvé?
9:30 a.m.
Bloc
Marc Lemay Bloc Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC
Can you tell us the cases in which you've worked for Mr. Sauvé so that he could win contracts in Ottawa? What kind of contracts were they?
9:30 a.m.
As an Individual
As I explained to you earlier, in Mr. Sauvé's case, I explained to him that he had to—
9:35 a.m.
Bloc
Marc Lemay Bloc Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC
Already, Mr. Chairman?
May the gentleman complete his answer?
9:35 a.m.
As an Individual
All right.
Yes, I advised Mr. Sauvé on other contracts. I advised him on a contract with the City of Montreal, as to how to register and bid on that contract. I also advised him in other matters, in contracts that he did not win.
9:35 a.m.
As an Individual
No, no, it wasn't in Ottawa. It was in the private sector, in Montreal.
9:35 a.m.
Liberal
9:35 a.m.
Conservative
Chris Warkentin Conservative Peace River, AB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Varin, we're getting to the end of our time, but we want to make it absolutely clear that you in fact were not engaged in lobbying. Obviously there were reports in the media that you were engaged in lobbying.
We have heard in this committee testimony from Mr. Tom Ring, who's an official with Public Works. He has testified, and when asked about you specifically, based on the media reports that had come out linking you somehow to this contract we're discussing as a committee today and that we've had a number of hearings regarding, he said:
...no: we've interviewed all of the people in the contracting and parliamentary precinct branches, and no one has ever heard of this individual and no one has ever been lobbied or influenced in any way.
At a different time in the same hearing, he said:
There has not been any indication that anyone tried to influence the pre-qualification criteria or the process itself.
So I bring that forward simply to, number one, counter Mr. Martin's accusations that there has been some funny business. The opposition contends that there is some type of funny business.
Mr. Varin, I need to be absolutely sure: you were not a lobbyist and you weren't paid to lobby or influence this government contract. Can you state that on the record? And remember that you're under oath.
9:35 a.m.
As an Individual
I'm telling you categorically, I'm a strategic consultant in communications and business development, and that's what I did in these files.
Now, I would just like to make a minor correction. I also read what the journalists wrote. I obviously apologize to the journalists who all, or virtually all, contacted me. I didn't return those calls out of respect for the committee. I wanted to testify before the committee first.
However, contrary to what has been done, I won't make any comments to journalists after this meeting either.
9:35 a.m.
Conservative
Chris Warkentin Conservative Peace River, AB
Well, you're a master of communications, so in an event where there is some misinformation that has been reported, what have you done to try to correct the misinformation that's out there? Have you considered legal action? Because in fact what has been alleged in some media reports is that you've engaged in an illegal activity, so I'm curious as to if you've considered legal action to correct that. The accusation is that you've engaged in illegal activity.
