Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think what Mr. Janse was referring to was more for a small number of people who would be, for example, seated in the Speaker's gallery. They would be the people who would have more of an active role or be recognized.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The small groups would not be part of those 500 guests.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  My team sent you the screenshot of the message you're referring to. I've been told that this was the only message sent. There was no list attached to it. My thinking is that it could be that it's a person who has knowledge of people in the Prime Minister's Office and had mentioned that she might have been invited to the event, because I—

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I would say that the last three addresses were done in a rushed time, every single one of them. That seems to have been the norm since the end of the pandemic.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'm talking about weeks without an “s”. One week or one week and a half is the type of preparation time we have.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I couldn't tell you what kinds of communications there are between these two offices. What I do know is that there's some communication between Parliament's protocol office and the Prime Minister's Office when these events come up. That said, the Prime Minister's Office never shared with us its guest list for the event in Toronto.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I do not know how the Prime Minister's Office obtained Mr. Hunka's name. I could not let you know. I know it was not through us. You are correct in saying he has a separate list. The Speaker of the House of Commons and the Speaker of the Senate each have a number of guests they invite, so they have separate lists.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'm not sure exactly what you mean by “firewalled”.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes. We collate the lists together, but they're not—

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It really is for each party to feel free to be able to invite whomever they want. It is their own prerogative to put people on the guest list. It's the same thing for the Prime Minister's Office, and for the Speaker as well.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I can add something. Quite often, there are guests who appear on more than one list, and that's what we do. Often there are guests on the Conservative list as well as the Liberal or NDP list. We advise when somebody is on more than one list.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I would need to look at the text you're referring to in order to know exactly what name they're talking about. However, I can assure you the list was not shared with the Prime Minister's Office. It's been the practice since I've been the chief of protocol. For the last six years, we have not shared the list with the Prime Minister's Office for addresses to Parliament.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It was indeed very rushed. The timeline was very, very tight. However, it is not the mandate of the protocol office to do those reputational threats for all the guests who are invited.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It would be addressed whoever had responsibility for it.