Information & Ethics Committee on March 21st, 2011

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Nejatian, look, we've got the biggest cabinet in Canadian history, with 16 staff in most of them. In some of them, I don't know what the ministers do. I wonder if there are more like you in this system doing this kind of thing, which is using taxpayers' money to promote the party.

Let me get to another fact. I hope that later we can get into some of the documentation in this letter in terms of where the data came from, but at the bottom of your letter you say, “Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions or concerns. I can be reached on my mobile at 613...”. I will not go through the number in case somebody out there listening calls you.

Was that a government phone--a phone paid for by the taxpayers--or was that phone paid for by the Conservative Party of Canada?

[The Chair, Liberal, Shawn Murphy]

Mr. Easter, your time is up.

Go ahead, sir; answer the question.

[Kasra Nejatian]

That was the government phone. It was issued to me by the Department of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism.

I have to admit, Mr. Chair, that I hadn't unpacked my boxes and I hadn't gotten a personal cellphone since I got there. I was using my personal cellphone from New York, but it just so happened that I didn't list that one. It was a mistake to include my departmental cellphone number, and I apologize for it. It was an oversight caused by the fact that I literally had not unpacked many of my boxes and hadn't had a chance to actually get a personal cellphone. I do apologize to members of the committee for this.

[The Chair, Liberal, Shawn Murphy]

Thank you, Mr. Easter.

Go ahead, Madame Freeman, for seven minutes.

[Carole Freeman, Bloc, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

Good afternoon, Mr. Nejatian. Thank you for your presentation.

So, you used House of Commons resources during office hours. Did you put in the work during business hours? We're not talking about volunteer work here.

Are you getting the translation?

[Kasra Nejatian]

I think I am getting the translation, but if I may ask, is your question whether this letter was sent out between nine o'clock and five o'clock? Is that the question?

[Carole Freeman, Bloc, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

Yes.

[Kasra Nejatian]

In my six weeks at the office of the minister, I frequently probably worked, on average, 80 to 90 hours a week. The great majority of that time was spent doing departmental work, but from time to time I would spend time on personal and volunteer matters. I tried to bookend my day with those things, so I was doing it either at the beginning of the day or the end of the day--

[Carole Freeman, Bloc, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

If I understood correctly, in your presentation you said that, two hours after sending said letter, you heard the NDP leader asking a question in the House of Commons regarding the letter you had just sent. Question period is not scheduled for 11 p.m.; it is from 2:15 p.m. to 3 p.m. That means that you sent your letter during office hours.

[Kasra Nejatian]

I think what happened--and I have to admit that I don't know all the details of when the letters actually left--

[Carole Freeman, Bloc, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

All I want to know is whether the letter was sent during your regular working hours. It was not volunteer work, it was done during business hours. You do work from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. or 7 p.m., so the letter was sent during your office hours.

[Kasra Nejatian]

I usually worked from 9 a.m. to around 2 a.m. or 3 a.m., but yes, I--

[Carole Freeman, Bloc, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

Oh, so you don't sleep. You said that you work from 90 to 95 hours per week, so I assume that the letter was sent during your working hours.

[Kasra Nejatian]

I asked my assistant to send the letter out around 9 a.m. or 10 a.m.

[Carole Freeman, Bloc, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

What you are saying contradicts your opening statement.

[Kasra Nejatian]

If I may, Mr. Chair, I asked my assistant to send the letter out; she took some time to prepare it and sent it out. I don't think it contradicts my opening statement. I apologize if I'm being confusing.

[Carole Freeman, Bloc, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

Perhaps your memory will be less fuzzy regarding how the letter was sent out. Was it sent by internal mail, by email, by courier? How was this letter sent to the Conservative MP for Alberta, supposedly, but really to all MPs?

[Kasra Nejatian]

It was delivered by two parliamentary interns.

[Carole Freeman, Bloc, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

We are talking about House of Commons staff here. When drafting your letter, did you use Citizenship and Immigration Canada information, confidential information, to target partisan political advertising?

[Kasra Nejatian]

No.

[Carole Freeman, Bloc, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

How did you target those people—since we are talking about ethnic targeting—if you possessed no data? How did you do this? I don't think that Arabs were targeted? You targeted the Chinese, South Asians, Jewish people, but no one of Latin or Haitian origin. How did you decide to whom to send the letter?

[Kasra Nejatian]

My letter went out to the Alberta caucus or, as it turns out, to all Alberta members of Parliament. It didn't go out to ethnic groups.

I may be confused. I apologize; I'm not trying to be difficult, I'm just--

[Carole Freeman, Bloc, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

I will repeat to you what you said in your presentation. We have your document. You say the following:

The Minister asked me to reach out to various Conservative electoral district associations [...] for an ad campaign that the Conservative Party of Canada wished to run focusing on ethnic communities.

How did you target ethnic communities? Which data did you use to target which ethnic communities?

[Kasra Nejatian]

The Conservative Party of Canada has engaged, for some time, in outreach to various ethnic groups. I believe the party uses various resources to do that. I'm probably not the best person to speak as to how the party chooses its--

[Carole Freeman, Bloc, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

Okay, you are not the best person to answer this question. I will move on to another question.

Did it appear to be common and customary practice for Ms. Chamberlain, your assistant, to use House of Commons documents to engage in partisan activities? Was this obviously standard procedure for Ms. Chamberlain or yourself?