Evidence of meeting #37 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 investigation.
A recording is available from Parliament.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Okay, I wasn't sure from your answer.
In this report, the investigation concluded that it is “probable” that you spoke with a reporter on the subject of NAFTA. Do you agree with that conclusion?
Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister, Office of the Chief of Staff, Office of the Prime Minister
Yes.
Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister, Office of the Chief of Staff, Office of the Prime Minister
No. As I said earlier, during the course of the lock-up I was there for more than an hour. I spoke to a number of reporters about issues, both issues related to the budget and a couple of issues not related to the budget. I recall speaking to the CTV news reporter in question about a couple of issues related to the budget. I don't recall having a conversation with him about NAFTA.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
The day before, you were in Washington. Did you discuss the Obama and Clinton campaign with Mr. Wilson while you were at that meeting in Washington?
Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister, Office of the Chief of Staff, Office of the Prime Minister
No.
Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister, Office of the Chief of Staff, Office of the Prime Minister
Yes.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Yes, you did, but you never talked at all about the issue that was becoming a political firestorm back in Canada about the renegotiating of NAFTA.
Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister, Office of the Chief of Staff, Office of the Prime Minister
No. The discussions I had were with other folks in the embassy.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
On February 29, ABC News was reporting that according to “a source close to the...Prime Minister's office...Wilson exaggerated the communication between the Obama campaign and the Canadian official during discussions this week with the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff, Ian Brodie, who leaked the story to CTV.”
You don't remember Mr. Wilson talking about this?
Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister, Office of the Chief of Staff, Office of the Prime Minister
Let me clarify what the context of the discussions was on the 25th. As I said, when we arrived in Washington in the morning, our first stop was at the embassy. That's where I first met Mr. Wilson that day. There was a discussion at a table, probably as big as the table here, with a number of his political officers and advocacy officers—
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
I'm sorry, but I don't have much time. Did you discuss it or did you not with Mr. Wilson? Is ABC News wrong?
Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister, Office of the Chief of Staff, Office of the Prime Minister
I would say that Ambassador Wilson was in the room, but I think the discussion was with other folks from the embassy.
NDP
Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister, Office of the Chief of Staff, Office of the Prime Minister
It was about the ongoing presidential race.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
On February 27, CTV phones Ambassador Wilson and says it's the Prime Minister's chief of staff who has told him directly that it was Clinton making the overtures. Then someone, whether it was Mr.Wilson or someone else, clarifies the story, and it becomes the Obama story.
That same day, a PMO staffer told you there was a copy of the report. You received a copy of this report. Were you aware of its potential political significance? The very next day it was leaked; within 24 to 48 hours that report was leaked. Were you aware that it could potentially change the course of the story, when you read that report, or was it just another briefing report?
Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister, Office of the Chief of Staff, Office of the Prime Minister
No, I don't think it ever occurred to me that if the report became public it would be controversial. If I had thought about the possibility of its becoming public, I guess I would have drawn that conclusion, but as I responded to Mr. Moore, when I received the report I handled it as if it were a classified diplomatic cable from a diplomatic post abroad and disposed of it.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Thank you.
February 29, ABC News.... Now we have CTV in this story, which is claiming that they've spoken with Ambassador Wilson and also with you. ABC News now steps into the story and says that a source close to the Canadian Prime Minister's Office told ABC News.... And then they go on to the issue of the original communication between Senator Obama and the Canadian consul general in Chicago. Who was that source in the Prime Minister's Office?
Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister, Office of the Chief of Staff, Office of the Prime Minister
Let me clarify. From what I gather of the media reports, they called it a source close to the Prime Minister's Office. In my experience, a source close to the Prime Minister's Office could be anybody who lives in Ottawa or any of us you've ever known.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Well, I'm sorry, but you're in the war room. Did you do any investigation to find out who that person was, or did you just accept that as a perfectly reasonable situation in a story that was completely blowing right through your office? Did you investigate and try to find out who that person close to the PMO was?
Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister, Office of the Chief of Staff, Office of the Prime Minister
As I answered in response to an earlier question, I made some inquiries about how the report came into the office and how it arrived on my desk. At that point there was a PCO investigation, and I turned this all over to the investigation at the the Privy Council Office.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
We're not talking about the PCO investigation. We're talking about the fact that ABC News said they talked to someone very close to the Prime Minister who confirmed this story to them.
Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister, Office of the Chief of Staff, Office of the Prime Minister
Right.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
And you're saying that could be anywhere in the Ottawa–Gatineau region, and as the man whose job it is to shut these stories down, you turned it all over because it was now about the memo. The memo hadn't leaked at that point.