Government Operations Committee on April 1st, 2008

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

I'm asking one question now. I'm just asking if you could answer that specific question. Who advised you in that period of time on those 600 pages?

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

You did ask 27 questions before that.

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

I'm asking you that question. I made a number of other statements. I'm just asking you if you could answer that question.

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

I'm going to go back to the 27 questions you started with, and I will get to that question.

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

All right, if you don't want to answer it then—

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

I will get to that.

It is Treasury Board's responsibility under the Financial Administration Act to approve contracts of this nature. All that had been signed was an MOU with the city, with no information at the time of that MOU. There was no knowledge, no budget forecasting, and not even a physical plan for the project when it was announced on the eve of the 2004 election. Treasury Board accepted our responsibilities as required under federal statute to review the project and to make a value judgment, and we did.

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

But hold on. This wasn't a Treasury Board project. This was not a Treasury Board project.

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

All projects have to go before Treasury Board to get approval.

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

They all do, but this was not a Treasury Board project, Minister.

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Treasury Board doesn't have any projects. All projects of this scope, of this financial amount, are required to be approved by Treasury Board, not—

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

You mentioned, not with respect to their efficacy, but—

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

I apologize. You mentioned that there—

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

Minister, we're running out of time. I'm just wondering if you could get to the question I'm asking you to answer, with respect to who advised you on that contract.

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

I will get to that, but you asked a few more questions before that.

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

I only have seven minutes, Minister. I'm asking if you could please answer that question.

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Then you shouldn't have asked 27 questions, in fairness.

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

No, I'm asking a question now. Could you please answer it?

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

I'm going to respond to the second issue. You said there were 10 projects at the same time, and you said that the one—

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

I will note that you're refusing to answer.

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

You mentioned the City of Toronto one. In fact, it came before Treasury Board on December 14, 2006, well after the municipal election campaign. I did certainly have consultations with a number of members of Parliament before that, including the Liberal member, Ken Boshcoff, who gave me some good knowledge before that project was approved. But that project itself came after the municipal election in Toronto.

If you have another eight or nine projects, I'd certainly welcome responding to those.

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

Sir, I have one minute. Could you please respond to the question?

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

I'm going to get to that.

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

I have one minute, Minister.

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

I'd be happy to respond to the other eight.

With respect to the legal interpretation, we did consult lawyers from the Department of Justice who spent four hours in my office going over the contract when it was discovered that we had been misled by the city. It was two or three lawyers from the Department of Justice who spent four hours in my office going over the project.

We were just looking to confirm that there was actually no irrevocability of the commission and the contract—

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

You had no Treasury Board officials. You had several lawyers and no Treasury Board officials.

Can I ask one other question before we go—