Government Operations Committee on Feb. 28th, 2008

[The Chair, Liberal, Diane Marleau]

Thank you very much.

We will go to questions, and we will start with the Liberals.

Mr. Holland, you have seven minutes.

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Before we do that, I was wondering if the gentleman on Mr. Rosenberg's right could introduce himself.

[The Chair, Liberal, Diane Marleau]

Sir, you are...?

[David Roebuck, As an Individual]

I am David Roebuck. I'm Mr. Rosenberg's attorney.

[The Chair, Liberal, Diane Marleau]

Thank you.

We'll have seven minutes for the first round, and we'll be quite severe in sticking to that.

Go ahead, Mr. Holland.

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

Thank you, Ms. Chair. Thank you to the witnesses.

Mr. Soudas, I'm going to start with you. First, thank you for being here. We weren't sure that you were going to make it. There was a lot of back and forth, a lot of liaising, and we weren't sure you were going to be with this committee.

You said you had asked for the meeting with Public Works and Government Services officials on the Rosdev file in August 2006 at the request of a municipal councillor. Can you tell us who that municipal councillor was?

[Dimitri Soudas]

It was Mr. Paolo Tamburello. I knew him when I worked for the mayor of Montreal. He worked for the opposition party, Vision Montréal. He was a borough mayor/councillor. He called me and raised this issue.

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

When did the request and subsequent meeting with Public Works and Government Services officials take place?

[Dimitri Soudas]

Pardon me?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

When did the subsequent meeting with Public Works and Government Services officials take place?

[Dimitri Soudas]

There was a meeting that took place at some point in August of 2006.

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

Okay.

Did you ever discuss this file with other municipal councillors?

[Dimitri Soudas]

It was raised with me sometime in 2007 by Municipal Councillor Marcel Tremblay.

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

When was it in 2007?

[Dimitri Soudas]

It was sometime in the spring of 2007, I would say. Mr. Tremblay raised the issue in passing, and I simply told him that the matter was before the courts.

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

I think you can understand that one of the concerns we have is that in August of 2006, Mr. Tamburello was not a councillor, yet you claim that you inquired about this file at the request of a municipal councillor. He wasn't a municipal councillor. He wasn't elected--

[Dimitri Soudas]

He was a former city councillor.

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

Well, he was former, but he wasn't a councillor at that point in time. He was simply not there.

We're trying to understand why you would try to mislead Canadians in this regard. It seems like you were making the request on behalf of a councillor. He wasn't a councillor; he was an ex-councillor. That may have been his past, but it wasn't his present. Isn't it because you knew that you had crossed a line by engaging in interference to benefit a Conservative Party supporter?

[Dimitri Soudas]

What quote are you referring to, sir?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

Isn't it misleading to say that you did this on behalf of a municipal councillor? He wasn't a municipal councillor.

[Dimitri Soudas]

Sir, I believe you're referring to something I said. I'd like to hear the quote.

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

You said so yourself that you had intervened in this matter because a municipal councillor had talked to you. He wasn't a municipal councillor. Correct?

[Dimitri Soudas]

That is correct. He was not a municipal councillor.

Maybe if you could quote me saying that a municipal councillor raised it between 2006--

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

Let's go, then, to this municipal councillor who wasn't a municipal councillor. According to Mr. Tamburello, he didn't ask you about the Rosdev file in any official capacity, and obviously not as a municipal councillor, since he was no longer in office. Rather, it was on a personal basis.

So I'll ask you if you inquired about the Rosdev file on a personal basis as well. He was asking on a personal basis. Were you also asking on a personal basis?

[Dimitri Soudas]

Mr. Tamburello, a former city councillor, raised the file with me. With the responsibilities that I held, I inquired about the matter. I was doing my job, sir.