Canadian Heritage Committee on March 11th, 2008

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Chairman, if I may, as we know, the CRTC will be engaging in a huge hearing in April that deals with enormous fees for carriage. In the matter of business judgment, the questions of how you perform and if you are trying to hide something when you're being appointed, I think, are very relevant in terms of qualifications, for that reason. I guess my question stands: were you trying to sanitize your record on the day this came out?

[Marc Patrone]

Mr. Chair, I would ask the member to clarify what he means by “sanitize”.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Let me put it a different way. Why would it happen on the very day that the story appeared in the Chronicle Herald that you were removed as secretary—and maybe director as well, I'm not sure—of the company?

[Marc Patrone]

My record as far as this company is concerned is a matter of public information. I believe my wife was about to close the store anyway, or had already done so. There was no point in my remaining as director or secretary of any company that was no longer a going concern. It's a coincidence.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Fair enough. Okay.

Let me ask you this. How were you approached about the job?

[Marc Patrone]

My dealings have been with Heritage throughout the entire endeavour, Mr. Chair. I dealt with, and I'll try to pronounce the gentleman's name correctly, Paul Enwerekowe.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

You were never approached by Andrew House, by Jordi Morgan, by John MacDonell, or by Peter MacKay about this?

[Marc Patrone]

I was given a call by Mr. MacDonell. It was a call asking if I had any interest, informing me that there was an opening. Mr. MacDonell contacted me in December. He wanted to know if there was any interest on my part in putting my name forward and that if there was, I should be in touch with the department that oversaw the CRTC, Canadian Heritage.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Thank you.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Is my time up?

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

I think time's up, yes.

Ms. Patrone. Oh, I'm sorry, Ms. Mourani.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[An hon. member]

There's a conflict.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Excuse me. It was my mistake, but at least we got a laugh out of it, and that's good.

Ms. Mourani, please.

[Maria Mourani, Bloc, Ahuntsic, QC]

Mr. Patrone, thank you for being here today to answer questions about your appointment. I would like some clarification about how you were recruited. So my questioning is a bit along the same lines as Mr. Regan's. You mentioned Mr. MacDonell, and I must admit that I do not know everyone. Who is Mr. MacDonell?

[Marc Patrone]

Mr. MacDonell, I believe, works—

[Maria Mourani, Bloc, Ahuntsic, QC]

Mr. MacDonell, okay.

[Marc Patrone]

He was a lawyer in Halifax, somebody I had interviewed, as I had Mr. Regan, on a number of issues that had come up over the years. He subsequently moved to Ottawa and I believe works in the department of Minister MacKay.

[Maria Mourani, Bloc, Ahuntsic, QC]

Thank you. He is Mr. MacKay's chief of staff. So he contacted you and asked you to apply, if you were interested, to Canadian Heritage. Is that right?

[Marc Patrone]

That's right. We spoke a little bit about the position. He contacted me while I was still an employee at CTV. He called me while I was there, and I--

[Maria Mourani, Bloc, Ahuntsic, QC]

You were still working at CTV.

[Marc Patrone]

Very much so.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Can we make sure we get to some qualifications here too? I'd like to find out Mr. Patrone's qualifications.

[Maria Mourani, Bloc, Ahuntsic, QC]

Yes, I'm coming to that, Mr. Chairman.

Did you know Mr. MacDonell before that? Was he a friend of yours? Did you know him before as a journalist or...?

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Go ahead, Mr. Fast.