Evidence of meeting #15 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 39th Parliament, 2nd session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was meeting.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
February 28th, 2008 / 9:50 a.m.
Deputy Press Secretary, Office of the Prime Minister
I don't have any other examples.
Liberal
Raymonde Folco Liberal Laval—Les Îles, QC
No? I'm asking you to give me one example. You stated that when other issues arose, you took action. What kind of action?
Deputy Press Secretary, Office of the Prime Minister
When negotiations take place with the Government of Quebec, for example, regarding a bilateral agreement, I inquire about...
Liberal
Raymonde Folco Liberal Laval—Les Îles, QC
That's not an example. I asked you to give me an example having to do with Montreal municipal councillors, since you were very involved. You said that you did some things. So then, can you give me an example?
Deputy Press Secretary, Office of the Prime Minister
Ms. Folco, quite possibly, I may receive some letters from municipal councillors about a local project and I take care to forward these letters to the responsible department.
Liberal
Raymonde Folco Liberal Laval—Les Îles, QC
Quite possibly, but you do not recall a specific incident.
Deputy Press Secretary, Office of the Prime Minister
When a municipal councillor, whether from Montreal or from some other Quebec region, sends me a request concerning a local project in his ward, I take it upon myself to forward this letter, Ms. Folco.
Liberal
Raymonde Folco Liberal Laval—Les Îles, QC
It is unfortunate, Mr. Soudas, that you cannot give me a specific example.
Let me go on to another matter for you, Mr. Soudas. Perhaps you won't ask me to repeat it, because this is in English, and I understand it's one of the languages you speak well.
Deputy Press Secretary, Office of the Prime Minister
I went to a French school, Ms. Folco.
Liberal
Raymonde Folco Liberal Laval—Les Îles, QC
It's just that you always ask us to repeat the question.
This is a quote from the Prime Minister, Mr. Soudas:
Mr. Soudas said that a Montreal city councillor approached him about an issue and he set about looking into it.
That is the nature of the work ministers and staff do here: they have a responsibility to look into issues. That is not interference, it is how the government works. Mr. Soudas was doing his job.
Did you mislead the Prime Minister on this? This wasn't a municipal councillor. Mr. Tamburello, as you know, and as you must have known at the time, was no longer a municipal councillor.
Liberal
Deputy Press Secretary, Office of the Prime Minister
I can respond to that, Madam Chair.
Bloc
Diane Bourgeois Bloc Terrebonne—Blainville, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Good day, gentlemen.
My first question is for Mr. Loiselle. You stated that on August 2, 2006, you met with Mr. Alain and Mr. Béland at Mr. Soudas' request. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the Rosdev file. Is that correct?
Bloc
Diane Bourgeois Bloc Terrebonne—Blainville, QC
If I understand correctly, two subsequent meetings were held to discuss the Rosdev file.
, As an Individual
Several meetings were held in the Minister's office, but if you're referring to meetings with members of the Prime Minister's staff, yes, there were two subsequent meetings.
Bloc
Diane Bourgeois Bloc Terrebonne—Blainville, QC
Two additional meetings. That means that at least three meetings were held to discuss this file. Isn't that a lot of time spent discussing one file in particular? Why was it taking people so long to...
, As an Individual
You have to recognize that this is a rather complex file. Political aids may have attended the first meeting, when in fact officials closely involved in the file should have been on hand to appreciate and explain the issues in detail. It is not unusual to hold several meetings when the first one fails to give people the information they want.
Bloc
Diane Bourgeois Bloc Terrebonne—Blainville, QC
I see. Let's say the first meeting was spent discussing the file from a political perspective. Departmental officials were called to the second meeting. In theory, departmental staff, who are generally well prepared, should be able to update political staff on the situation. At either the second or third meeting, did you feel that officials were being pressured in some way to abandon legal proceedings against Rosdev?
, As an Individual
I did not attend the second and third meetings, only the August meeting. I was told that the purpose of these meetings was to brief people on this file. As I said earlier, with respect to this file and my conversations with Mr. Soudas and other staff in the PMO, it was always very clear that we would not suspend legal action in this matter and that we would stay the course. Throughout the course of the discussions, we never once questioned our decision.
Bloc
Diane Bourgeois Bloc Terrebonne—Blainville, QC
I'm not interested in what you were feeling. I am wondering about the other party that wanted some information. Did anyone in the PMO want you to suspend certain legal proceedings?
Bloc
Diane Bourgeois Bloc Terrebonne—Blainville, QC
Fine.
Mr. Housakos, you made the following statement to Radio-Canada: “I simply wanted to find some way to make sure that Rosdev was being treated properly by the government”. So then, at that point, if I understand correctly, you acknowledged that you were lobbying Minister Fortier's chief of staff on Rosdev's behalf.
Is that an accurate assessment of the situation?
