Public Accounts committee  Do I agree with the strategy as a goal for increasing participation in government business by indigenous firms and individuals? Yes, I agree with the strategy.

Public Accounts committee  I'm struggling, Mr. Chair, to figure out the relevance here. We know Mr. Yeo—

Public Accounts committee  I am, and I'm also aware that a business directory is maintained, and that Mr. Yeo was on that through Dalian—

Public Accounts committee  I understand that he also subcontracts.

Public Accounts committee  I did not, personally.

Public Accounts committee  There are a few pieces to this one. Number one, there is an investigation through the Public Service Commission on the staffing itself, with a look at some other HR files in order to see whether there are systemic issues. We're also confirming whether, on any of the contracted work to Dalian, the goods and services were indeed received.

Public Accounts committee  The most obvious, Mr. Chair, is his signature on contracts with Dalian after he started his employment with the public service. That's the first part. I believe that during his testimony earlier this week, Mr. Yeo indicated it was an automated signature used by somebody else, but we know Dalian continued to receive contracts.

Public Accounts committee  Right. There are a couple of points here, Mr. Chair. One, let's differentiate between reference checks and security checks. We are looking into whether the reference check was properly done. Maybe it should have revealed some of his business activities. That work is ongoing through the Public Service Commission.

Public Accounts committee  The most important thing is the offer of employment letter. The future employee must confirm whether or not there is a conflict of interest. Mr. Yeo signed it without confirming that there was one. It's possible during reference checks that some of these things might come up, but the obligation to declare is on the employee.

Public Accounts committee  That is the group of 50 that actually has outside work that is possibly related to the Government of Canada, so in most cases, yes.

Public Accounts committee  I will endeavour to provide the committee with information on the 50. We are still doing some validation. I also want to make sure I don't violate privacy. I will certainly come back to the committee with some information on the 50.

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chair, I cannot validate the employees of other departments and whether they have contracts with National Defence. I can endeavour to connect with my colleagues at Treasury Board Secretariat and see if any of their disclosures make that link for us. I'll do my best on that one, but I'm not sure.

Public Accounts committee  I'm not aware, Mr. Chair, but I would assume they exist. At the Department of National Defence we have employees who are doing contract work for other departments. I assume the inverse is true as well.

Public Accounts committee  It would have included any awards to businesses that are on the business directory maintained by ISC, so I would assume Dalian would have been counted towards that as defence, as Mr. Crosby has confirmed with the shake of his head. When National Defence looks at its indigenous targets from a procurement perspective, we have some very large-dollar contracts around northern radar maintenance.

Public Accounts committee  I think it depends on the nature of the work. Let's just use a simple example outside of DND first, and then we'll come to a DND example. If you had someone who was employed as a full-time translator for the Government of Canada and on the weekends they wanted to take on contract work as a translator for other departments, that is allowable as long as it's disclosed.