Evidence of meeting #48 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 campaign.
A recording is available from Parliament.
11:50 a.m.
NDP
Pat Martin NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB
Was that the fair commercial value of the product that you invoiced for?
11:50 a.m.
Some hon. members
Oh, oh!
11:50 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Paul Szabo
I understand that.
Order, please. I've stopped the clock. Order, please.
I think these questions can be answered without getting very aggressive, and I think referring to people being duped or not, we're getting close to the badgering thing.
11:50 a.m.
NDP
Pat Martin NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB
I'm sympathetic that they may have been unwitting patsies to a scheme that was wrong.
11:50 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Paul Szabo
I think it's a very valid question, but I think maybe we should tone down the rhetoric, and let's make sure that people understand the question in plain terms and can answer in plain terms.
Mr. Martin, you have about a minute left, so I think I'll give the floor back to you, if you want to repeat that last part. But they heard the question, I'm sure.
11:50 a.m.
As an Individual
I heard the question, if that's quite all right.
We very clearly said in our opening statement, Retail Media bought time at competitive commercial rates. We also provided advice on what media outlets covered what ridings. How the clients chose to divide the cost of a buy was up to them. It's not relevant to us and it's similar to what we do in the private sector.
11:50 a.m.
NDP
Pat Martin NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB
Sir, since it is my last minute here, I still have this question. If you assessed what the client needed to buy, etc., how is it that this riding needed $50,000 and that riding needed $30,000, when they're right next door to each other and there was no appreciable difference in the buy? You bought ads at a radio station that broadcast to the whole area. Is it that the party made you do it?
11:50 a.m.
As an Individual
Well, our concern was receiving the total amount of money for the buy, which we needed to do in a couple of days. How that was divided up, as I said, in the private sector between franchisors and franchisees was up to them.
11:50 a.m.
As an Individual
You said that we provided a summary invoice to the official agents through.... We did not provide individual invoices to the candidates. We had prepared them, but they did not go anywhere.
11:50 a.m.
NDP
11:50 a.m.
As an Individual
What had happened is that in preparation of the summary invoice, our clerk had put together individual invoices. We sent a summary invoice format to Susan Kehoe to say, “Is this how you want to see it?” She said that was fine, so we did not send the detailed invoices anywhere.
When Elections Canada came to me, we provided all the documentation. But those were never sent to the party or the official agents.
11:50 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Paul Szabo
Before I go to Mr. LeBlanc, let me say it's unfortunate that the existence of your individualized invoices ever came up. They're not official invoices; they should not have been booked by you in addition to any compound invoices, because you can only book revenue once, and they were never received by anybody else. I don't know why they were ever raised. But we do know, from other testimony, that the candidates did receive an individualized invoice, which was prepared by someone else.
11:50 a.m.
Conservative
Gary Goodyear Conservative Cambridge, ON
I think you have once again stepped way outside your area of expertise. I'm not sure what your past is, but I don't think you have the authority or the expertise to offer what defines a hard invoice or a soft invoice. I think you're conducting a debate here. You're clarifying what the witnesses didn't say.
You actually should be on the timer for the other Liberal members, so I object. I object to your debating and again putting forth allegations that you have absolutely no proof of. I wish you would stop doing that, Mr. Chair.