Evidence of meeting #47 for Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was screen.
A video is available from Parliament.
Liberal
François-Philippe Champagne Liberal Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC
—is that the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner received the letter. He even confirmed—
Liberal
François-Philippe Champagne Liberal Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC
—that he received the letter, so he has all the information. It will be up to him to make the decision.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative John Brassard
Thank you, Mr. Bonin.
Mr. Hardy, you have the floor for five minutes.
Conservative
Gabriel Hardy Conservative Montmorency—Charlevoix, QC
Minister, thank you for joining us. You began your opening remarks by talking about rigour, integrity and transparency. You said your goal was to fulfill your obligations and that you therefore wrote a letter to recuse yourself. The definition of “recusal” is to recuse yourself from participation because of incompetence or to avoid a conflict of interest.
What was the purpose of the letter? Why did you recuse yourself? Based on that definition from the dictionary, what was the reason?
Liberal
François-Philippe Champagne Liberal Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC
Mr. Hardy, if you're looking for a clip, you won't get it today. I've been an MP for at least 10 years. You just got here. I'm an honourable member of this House, as you are.
Liberal
François-Philippe Champagne Liberal Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC
I'm willing to answer your questions based on facts.
Conservative
Gabriel Hardy Conservative Montmorency—Charlevoix, QC
The dictionary definition is a fact, Minister.
Conservative
Liberal
François-Philippe Champagne Liberal Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC
You prefaced your question with comments I won't accept.
Conservative
Gabriel Hardy Conservative Montmorency—Charlevoix, QC
No, it won't take long. It's my speaking time.
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
On a point of order, Mr. Chair. Can we let people answer, please? It's for the interpreters.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative John Brassard
Once again, I would ask everyone to think about the interpreters.
Mr. Hardy, if you have another question, go ahead.
Conservative
Gabriel Hardy Conservative Montmorency—Charlevoix, QC
I'm talking about facts. When you write a letter to recuse yourself, the words you use are important. If the people listening to us want to know what you did, they'll rely on the definition of recusal.
What I'm asking you is what part of the definition applies to your situation. I just want you to answer that question.
Liberal
François-Philippe Champagne Liberal Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC
I'm happy to answer you on that basis.
It was out of an abundance of caution. As a lawyer, I have a fairly good understanding of these concepts. Even if the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner doesn't ask you to do something, it doesn't mean you can't go beyond what the act requires of you. That's exactly what I did, precisely to avoid any questions about my involvement in the decisions regarding this project.
Conservative
Gabriel Hardy Conservative Montmorency—Charlevoix, QC
That's perfect. I'm glad we're keeping to the facts, because it's important.
On September 10, 2025, you sent a letter. The Commissioner replied on April 7, 2026. That's what you said in a previous answer. There's a delay between the two. Theoretically, you'd recused yourself and you were waiting for the answer. However, on November 4, you took part in the debates; on November 7, you voted; on November 17, you voted; on November 18, you promoted the project and voted; on December 8, you voted; on February 5, 2026, you voted; and on February 25, you voted.
Between the time you sent your letter and the time you received the official answer, 13 times you did things you weren't supposed to do. We're just trying to figure out what happened.
Liberal
François-Philippe Champagne Liberal Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC
That's not the case, Mr. Hardy. I invite you to consult lawyers on this. You'll find that the application principle—
Conservative
Liberal
François-Philippe Champagne Liberal Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC
That's why I can tell you that there are very specific sections in the act that are general in scope and that enable members, like you—
Liberal
François-Philippe Champagne Liberal Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC
—to be able to do things.
I just want to correct your statement, since we're talking about the facts. What we received on April 7, 2026, was confirmation of a discussion I had already had with the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner. As I said, as soon as the individual in question received a job offer, I contacted the Ethics Commissioner to inform him. As mentioned, this took place on July 3, 2025.
I have also taken other measures as Minister of Finance. I have a role as an MP and a role as Minister of Finance. In both capacities, we have complied with all the rules under the act.
Conservative
Gabriel Hardy Conservative Montmorency—Charlevoix, QC
That's perfect. I'm glad you told us that, because you said earlier that it was important to maintain trust and not politicize the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics.
However, when you do that, people have questions. They wonder how a finance minister can fast-track a bill, spend $4.27 million of taxpayers' money and allow senior executives of this public project to award themselves $2.8 million in performance bonuses.
My question is this: Is your wife a senior executive in Alto?
Liberal
