Evidence of meeting #46 for Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was witnesses.
A recording is available from Parliament.
2:40 p.m.
Liberal
2:40 p.m.
Liberal
Marcel Proulx Liberal Hull—Aylmer, QC
Mr. Martelli, since Mr. Rivard of the Conservative Party asked you to stop speaking to Elections Canada, I suppose you had other meetings or conversations with Elections Canada.
2:40 p.m.
As an Individual
Every time Elections Canada called me, I always cooperated.
2:40 p.m.
Liberal
2:40 p.m.
Bloc
Carole Lavallée Bloc Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC
Thank you, Mr. Martelli.
What was the $14,000 amount paid into your account to be used for?
2:40 p.m.
As an Individual
I have no idea Ms. Lavallée. All I was told was that it was a straightforward in-and-out, with no explanation.
August 11th, 2008 / 2:40 p.m.
Bloc
2:40 p.m.
Bloc
Carole Lavallée Bloc Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC
I do not know whether you are aware of the five criteria used by the Chief Electoral Officer. You did not see the documentation, you did not sign the contract and you did not know what the money was used for. You could not even assume that the money was used for an advertising campaign.
2:40 p.m.
Bloc
Carole Lavallée Bloc Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC
Nothing at all. You had not a word to say about anything.
2:40 p.m.
Bloc
Carole Lavallée Bloc Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC
I have a list of the candidates who were involved in the Conservative Party's scheme, and curiously, you are not on that list.
2:40 p.m.
As an Individual
That's odd. For Elections Canada to call me, someone must have done something. I don't think that Elections Canada would take the trouble of bothering me for nothing. To begin with, during my campaign, there were only three of us, and I repeat that my expenses only totalled $1,000. Then, when the party, Mr. Benoît Larocque who was here at the time with Mr. Pierre Coulombe... As he said, he never explained anything.
2:40 p.m.
Bloc
Carole Lavallée Bloc Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC
You, who were directly involved in this affair, know that overspending beyond the ceiling by the Conservative Party, by approximately $1.3 million, is nearly all listed by the Chief Electoral Officer in a table that is among the documents we received. Your name is not on that list.
Does this mean that there is another scheme, another form of advertising expenses?
2:40 p.m.
As an Individual
I never saw anything else. My adversaries here perhaps cooked everything up. After the 2006 election—
2:40 p.m.
As an Individual
After the election, in the summer of 2006, meetings were held. The curious thing is that the media were saying that all the other parties were having trouble except the Conservative Party, which had a surplus of between 3 and $5 million. That is why Mr. Harper was always in election mode, as he said. I asked myself at the time why the other parties did not have more money and why the Conservative Party had some.
