Information & Ethics Committee on June 12th, 2018

[Jeff Silvester]

They're often sent together, yes, not always. An insertion order is a description of what the advertising is in a general sense. Where we might have multiple insertion orders, we then put them into one invoice, or sometimes they're the same.

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Thank you.

At the top I see there's a principal contact name from your business. Is that who you consider the primary lead for the contract?

[Jeff Silvester]

That's usually the person who whoever is in charge of paying those things knows from our company, yes.

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

The one I have in my hand is for BeLeave. Would that differ, the primary contact, for the other?

[Jeff Silvester]

I think there are primary and secondary contacts on each, and I think there may have been different secondary contacts, people who might have been doing the advertising, but I think the primary contact might have been Zack on all of them. I don't know.

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

For BeLeave, I see, yes. But for Vote Leave, you don't.

[Jeff Silvester]

Okay, I don't have it in front of me. I'd have to look. I think you have all those documents.

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Going back to the invoices, you mentioned that the contract and the insertion were produced and sent at the same time. Am I correct with that?

[Jeff Silvester]

Usually, yes, but not all the time. With Vote Leave I know we sent insertion orders and then we would sometimes group some of them in one invoice, I think. I think with BeLeave it was at the same time, I think.

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

That's what I see here, but I wanted to confirm.

How long would it take you to be paid? How much do you take up front, 50% or 75%, 10%?

[Jeff Silvester]

It depends on the client, and it depends on the advertising, so there are some clients that we will advertise for, then invoice them at the end of the period, and then get paid. There are others that we ask for payment from up front for the whole amount of their budget, and then we draw down off of that.

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

How did it work for BeLeave, for example?

[Jeff Silvester]

With BeLeave we asked to be paid first.

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

One hundred percent or 50%?

[Jeff Silvester]

Once they paid us the first time, when they said they were transferring another sum, we may have started advertising into that sum, knowing that they'd paid us before and were likely to pay us again. However, in the first instance, if I recall correctly, we got the money first and then started doing the advertising. With Vote Leave, however, we started advertising before we got money.

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Okay.

Going through the documents, one contract that you provided us and that I have in front of me is for work done from June 14 to June 23, 2016.

[Jeff Silvester]

Okay.

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Why would it be dated April 30, 2018? This is 2018. It's this year. When was this document produced, and why is it dated 2018? It was done in response to inquiries done by our committee. Just as a reminder, that was two weeks after you testified here at our committee.

[Jeff Silvester]

Right. It may have been a Word document. If I open a Word document, sometimes it has auto-dates on it, in which case it might have updated the date. I would have to go back and look at the original again.

I know that all of that information has been sent to the—

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

All of the other ones are 2016. This one is April 30.

[Jeff Silvester]

It just may have been the format I had it in. I apologize if it came through that way. I will definitely go and double-check to see the exact date, if that's incorrect. It might have auto-updated.

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

The budget included $565,500 U.S.

[Jeff Silvester]

Correct.

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

That's huge.

[Jeff Silvester]

I think it aligns with the 400,000 U.K. I think that's what that's from.