Information & Ethics committee  No, but I can tell you that I would have done the same for any one of my friends or clients in the same situation. I would do it again today. That is the beauty of being a private citizen. Once you leave politics, you can do whatever you want, as long as you obey the law, fulfill your contractual obligations and are at peace with your conscience.

Information & Ethics committee  Of course.

Information & Ethics committee  Mr. Mulroney said that there was nothing illegal about it. He himself said so. If you want a legal opinion, please come to my office and I will bill you.

Information & Ethics committee  As I said, the first time I heard about it was when Mr. Schreiber tried to sue Mr. Mulroney in Ontario. Messrs. Mulroney and Schreiber have already appeared before this committee and will do so again. You should ask them these questions, not me.

Information & Ethics committee  Of course I was surprised.

Information & Ethics committee  The first time I put up bail for Mr. Schreiber was in 1999, I think, and the rest was just to renew that. Listen, in this country, we have presumption of innocence. I should not have to tell you that, because you are a lawyer, a former criminal lawyer. So far, Mr. Schreiber has not been charged with anything in Canada, and he, like all citizens, has the right to be presumed innocent.

Information & Ethics committee  The same thing I lobbied Mr. Chrétien about. I was trying to get a public request for proposals.

Information & Ethics committee  Probably, yes.

Information & Ethics committee  I am almost sure of it, but I do not have the— You asked, so I will say “yes”.

Information & Ethics committee  We talked about the fact that Thyssen had a very high-quality product, very high-calibre. Some senior officers in the Department of National Defence had taken a close look at it and had praised it highly. In light of the situation—both GM and Thyssen had a product—it made sense to go ahead the same way we did when we were in government and we issued a request for proposals for F-18s and navy destroyers.

Information & Ethics committee  At the time, I was with Jürgen Massmann, who headed up Thyssen BHI, and who was on the board of directors of Thyssen's parent company. He knew what he was talking about when it came to technical things a lot better than I did.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes. Mr. Massmann was with me for nearly all of those meetings. If I went to a meeting, he was there. I already said that I had talked to people in the departments I mentioned.

Information & Ethics committee  It is not the same as paying $100,000, it is not—

Information & Ethics committee  It is not like paying $100,000.

Information & Ethics committee  It could be a very long answer, frankly, and I don't think.... What do you want me to say?