The extensive--and I mean extensive--review of electronic communications over a 24-month period was done with respect to exchanges that may have transpired between certain parties and certain ministerial officials and others. I can assure you that there is absolutely nothing--and I mean absolutely nothing--in those exchanges over that 24-month period that would suggest in any way, shape, or form that those individuals' connections with any official of the Government of Canada were anything other than legitimate political exchanges and activities.
I would go further to say that, if anything, the documentation would suggest that the individuals had nothing to do with the disclosure as alleged. It's been my approach, all through my career in the RCMP and elsewhere, that it is quite improper for somebody to be approached on speculation, on unfounded speculation. There was no evidence whatsoever to suggest that this gentleman was involved in the unauthorized disclosure.
Mr. Chair, I'm not disputing Mr. Bains' characterization of the confidential information, although I would invite the committee to consider that the comments made by Mr. Brodie were comments that were in the public domain. They were not confidential. It was not confidential diplomatic information.
The investigation established that those kinds of observations and comments were swirling around the Capitol in Washington at the time. It was a topic of conversation in the same way that the World Series would be, or the Stanley Cup would be in Canada, in terms of who was saying what. There were commentators on both sides of the spectrum making observations, whether it was serious or not.
So I'm not here to replace--