Government Operations Committee on Feb. 28th, 2008

[The Chair, Liberal, Diane Marleau]

Welcome to the government operations committee. We have a number of witnesses here today.

I would like to start off by saying that we'd like to give you five to ten minutes for opening statements, except there are a number of you and I don't know how many of you have statements. Could you give me an indication of how many of you have statements, as we're going to shorten the time?

I see there are three or four. Perhaps just take five minutes each. That's all I will allow; otherwise we won't have enough time for questions and answers afterwards.

Mr. Moore.

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

If there's a precedent for this, I would ask for the consent of the committee and of the chair to add one witness to the panel today, Mr. Ian Brodie, chief of staff of the Prime Minister's Office.

[The Chair, Liberal, Diane Marleau]

Is it the wish of the committee to allow Mr. Brodie to be here as a witness?

I'm told by the clerk that you should put forward a motion. Mr. Moore, do you want to put this in the form of a motion?

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

I move that the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates also include Mr. Ian Brodie, chief of staff of the Prime Minister's Office, in the schedule of witnesses today

[The Chair, Liberal, Diane Marleau]

I'll call the question. Who wants to allow Mr. Brodie to come as a witness today? Who is against having Mr. Brodie today versus another day?

Not today. Sorry, the motion doesn't pass.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

I'm sorry, Madam Chair, but just so we're clear on this, we're not saying we're against hearing from Mr. Brodie, but if we have further questions, we would certainly be happy to hear from him.

[The Chair, Liberal, Diane Marleau]

No, the motion is that we hear from him or add him to the list today.

[Charlie Angus]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Diane Marleau]

I want to take the vote again.

All those in favour?

[Chris Warkentin, Conservative, Peace River, AB]

Can we get a recorded vote just to get some clarification?

[The Chair, Liberal, Diane Marleau]

We sure will.

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

We have a new member of the committee, I see.

[The Chair, Liberal, Diane Marleau]

That's okay; he's allowed to sit.

(Motion negatived [See Minutes of Proceedings])

[The Chair, Liberal, Diane Marleau]

Now we'll start with the opening remarks.

You have five minutes each.

Mr. Housakos.

[Léo Housakos, As an Individual]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I had an opening statement that was 10 minutes long, but I will shorten it and try to deal with the four discrepancies that were disseminated by the media in the week of January 27 to 28. As a result of those falsehoods and allegations that have been substantiated without a shred of evidence, I find myself before you.

The first is a characterization that was made of me in a Le Téléjournal report by Patrice Roy, as a Conservative bagman for Quebec. He said I was an important collector of funds for the Conservative Party. That's the first falsehood.

In 2006 I took it upon myself to raise funds for the party I've supported for years. I was never a bagman and I was never responsible for the fundraising activities in Quebec. I didn't participate in any fundraising committee during that election campaign. On my own initiative I solicited my friends, my family, and various associates. Respecting the federal electoral law, I sent the proceeds of those efforts to the Conservative Party headquarters by mail. That was the extent of my involvement in the 2006 federal election campaign.

Since January 2006 I have never solicited anybody for the Conservative Party in Quebec. I've not raised any funds for the Conservative Party in Quebec. I've declined two or three invitations to participate on fundraising committees for fundraising activities in 2006 and 2007. Further, since my nomination to the board of VIA Rail at the end of 2007, I've refrained from any political activity at the federal level.

Putting those facts on the table, I think one would agree that referring to me as an important party bagman in Quebec is a gross exaggeration.

The second point I want to be clear on is that I'm not and have never been a registered or unregistered lobbyist for any company or individual for the federal government. It has never happened. Under the federal lobbying act, as I understand it, if I ever did anything that constituted lobbying, all I had to do was go online and register. Nothing prevents me, and nothing would prevent me, like the thousands of others, from registering as a lobbyist.

The third discrepancy is in regard to news reports that this now famous April 6, 2006, meeting between myself, John Lemieux, and Frédéric Loiselle was organized somehow or put together by Dimitri Soudas. That is false. I solicited the meeting directly with Mr. Loiselle, who I've known for a number of years. It was pertaining to a specific subject. I never asked Mr. Soudas to intervene in organizing that meeting for me. I've never asked Mr. Soudas to organize any meeting for me with anybody in this government. I've never asked anybody in the Prime Minister's Office to ever intervene to organize a meeting for me or anybody else.

I know I'm running out of time, Madam Chair, but I think my fourth point is an important one for everyone around the table. It's on the so-called second file in the rapportage of Le Téléjournal. It depicted me having clandestine meetings with potential suppliers to the defence ministry, showing aircraft carriers, and planes flying all over the place.

What's the saying, Mr. Roy and Mr. Leblanc? Don't let the facts get in the way of a good, sexy scandal. That's the reality. The facts of this supposed meeting are that I had dinner with two gentlemen in Montreal in a restaurant, a very public place. The dinner was put together by a mutual friend of mine and these two gentlemen in question. Mr. Soudas made an unscheduled appearance that day for dinner. He called me that afternoon in Montreal and said, “I'm in Montreal, Léo, visiting my ill mom.” It was not unusual for me to say, “Dimitri, why don't you hop on by and have supper with me tonight?”

At that dinner meeting one of the two gentlemen in question--the Liberal members around the table might know who he is--was Roch Charron. I understood from the meeting that he was a former attaché politique to a former federal Liberal cabinet minister. The second gentleman there was from the same company--I assumed they both worked for the same company. The company name was Alenia. I don't recall the name of the second gentleman. He was an Italian fellow from Italy living in Canada. He worked for the company, represented the company. In all honesty, I don't recall the name because it wasn't very important.

I think it's an important fact, Madam Chair, for the--

[The Chair, Liberal, Diane Marleau]

I'm happy to let you speak for another second or two, but remember, your five minutes is up.

[Léo Housakos]

I'll just very quickly point out that at this meeting, at no time was Dimitri or I solicited by these gentlemen. At no time did they request that I or Mr. Soudas make representations to the federal government for them. At no time did they ask us to set up any meetings with anybody from the federal government. At no time was there any discussion about any contract or potential contract between themselves, ourselves, or anybody else.

And that is the extent of the facts.

[The Chair, Liberal, Diane Marleau]

Thank you, sir.

Now we'll go on to the next statement. Who would like to be next?

Mr. Soudas.

[Dimitri Soudas, Deputy Press Secretary, Office of the Prime Minister]

Thank you, Madam Chair. Merci, madame la présidente.

Good morning. I am pleased to appear before this committee with my principal, the Prime Minister's chief of staff, who's here with me today.

In the interest of saving the members some time, I will attempt to ensure that my opening statement and answers to your questions are concise and to the point.

As this committee is already aware, my name is Dimitri Soudas.

I was born in Montreal, Quebec and I have been working for thePrime Minister of Canada since February 6, 2006.

Prior to that, I worked for Mr. Harper while he was in opposition. I began working for him in 2002 as his press secretary, as well as director of community relations for a short period of time.

Before coming to Ottawa in 2002, I worked for the City of Montreal, in the Mayor's Office, until June 2002.

My current responsibilities in the Prime Minister's Office are twofold. I work as deputy press secretary and I also work as his advisor on Quebec issues.

In my role as press secretary, I have the pleasure of liaising with the media on a daily basis regarding current affairs. In my role as an advisor on Quebec-related issues, I provide advice, handle Quebec-related files. To be brief--as I said I would be--I'm a political staff member who generally assists the PMO with its communications and general public outreach.

In my role as an advisor to the PMO concerning matters that pertain to Quebec, I provide briefings and assistance on matters relating to policy analysis, liaise with other levels of government, provide support to our caucus, and monitor policy development and advisory services.

To give the members a little more detail, I provide policy analysis and research by conceptualizing and defining appropriate strategies, I assist on positions on policy development, and I act as a contact point at the Prime Minister's Office with respect to matters relating to the province of Quebec.

Finally--not to take, as you stated, Madam Chair, too much of the committee's time on an opening statement--I also performed various other special assignments as directed by others in the Prime Minister's Office, including Ian Brodie, the Prime Minister's chief of staff.

As the members of this committee should be aware, I am a ministerial staff member. I would like to stress for members of the committee that I am a political employee, not a member of the public service.

Finally, I trust that the members will appreciate that the position and the answers will rest, obviously, on what you decide to ask me.

In conclusion, Madam Chair, the office of the Ethics Commissioner is a quasi-judicial body created by an act of Parliament, as you all know. That office, at my request, has now full jurisdiction to look into this matter. I'm sure this committee and its members fully agree that the Ethics Commissioner's process should be respected.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Diane Marleau]

Mr. Rosenberg, would you want five minutes as well?

[Michael Rosenberg, President and Chief Executive Officer, Rosdev Group]

Yes. I'll try to condense it.

Good morning, Madam Chair and everybody else.

I would just like to clear up some things that were said about our company. Being the president of Rostrust, I would like to correct some statements made in certain newspaper articles about basically the option aspect.

There was a judgment by the Honourable R. Smith on January 30, 2007. I will read one part of it:

For the above reasons, I find that the Crown did not validly exercise the option when it gave notice on June 25, 2004 of its intention to purchase the leased premises for a price of zero dollars with the closing to occur on June 30, 2010.

That judgment was released at the beginning of 2007.

Further on, it says the following:

In view of my finding that the option was not validly exercised, the Crown is not entitled to purchase the Property on June 30, 2010 in accordance with the terms set out in the Crown's notice.

Basically, that was contrary to what the crown thought, that it could buy it for zero. We rejected it from the beginning. We never thought there was any chance for the crown to buy it at zero, and that was the judgment.

Another record that I would like to correct is that since the beginning of 2004, the crown has taken over full responsibility for the management of the building. We have no input whatsoever in running that building. Therefore, whatever happens and whatever is going on is not part of our responsibility.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Diane Marleau]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Loiselle, do you want five minutes?

[Frédéric Loiselle, , As an Individual]

Madam Chair, allow me to introduce myself.

My name is Frédéric Loiselle. I was Minister Michael Fortier's Chief of Staff from the time the Conservative Party was elected to office until August of 2007. I am here at your request to answer your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Diane Marleau]

Thank you, sir.

Would anyone else like to say something?

You have the floor, Mr. Lemieux.

[John Lemieux, Lawyer, Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP, Rosdev Group]

Good morning, Madam Chair.

My name is John Lemieux. I'm an attorney from Montreal. I'm here at the invitation of the committee, and I have no opening statement to make.