Obviously we read the motion, and we know that Mr. Wright, of course, is a very accomplished Canadian from Burlington, who has accomplished extraordinary things for Canada and is now prepared to come to serve his country in another format as chief of staff to the Prime Minister. I would hope that in the past some of the previous chiefs of staff to prime ministers also had some of the astounding credentials of Mr. Wright. I am unaware of our having brought their particular agreements before committee.
I note that the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates was seized with investigating, for a time, an elected member of Parliament who was potentially lobbying. I will reference the motion adopted:
That the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates undertake a study of the claim that the member for Scarborough—Rouge River was actively lobbying the Government of Canada, including "acting for foreign and offshore organizations in obtaining operating licences, securing regulatory and governmental approvals for mergers and acquisitions...advising government bodies on international issues regarding cross-border tax collection, anti-dumping issues, and lobbying government on policy issues as well as facilitating intergovernmental relationships” while sitting as a current member of Parliament; and that the committee invite to appear the member for Scarborough—Rouge River, representatives of Sun & Partners law firm and the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner; and that, pursuant to the House of Commons Standing Order 108(1)(a), the government be ordered to provide all forms of communications received, including correspondence, from the member for Scarborough—Rouge River, and that Sun & Partners be ordered to provide a copy of the contractual agreement and any related documents of employment between Sun & Partners and the member for Scarborough—Rouge River; and that all documents be provided to the committee within five business days.
I recall, if I'm not mistaken, that the member of Parliament for Scarborough—Guildwood and another member, who I can't remember, gave very long dissertations as to why the particular study was out of order.
The member of Parliament himself suggested that he had actually approached the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner and had sought her advice with respect to the contractual obligations he had with this company and that, as a result, he did not feel he needed to turn over the particular contract because he'd actually received the approval of the Ethics Commissioner at the time.
Let me see if I can quote from that meeting. The latter appeared at committee on Thursday, May 27, where he quoted from a response by Sun & Partners, but he did not provide the documentation the committee had actually asked him to provide because he'd gone to the Ethics Commissioner and she had provided—