Evidence of meeting #23 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was snowdy.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Yasmin Ratansi
Thank you.
Can we continue with the questions, please?
Mr. Guimond, you have eight minutes.
4:15 p.m.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
Thank you.
Mr. Hamilton, is Mr. Snowdy your client?
4:15 p.m.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
He is not your client. I needed to know that before asking you questions about him.
How many times have you met with Mr. Snowdy?
4:15 p.m.
Partner, Cassels, Brock & Blackwell LLP
Including April 9, I believe we've met face to face four times.
4:15 p.m.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
Some of those meetings took place before or after Ms. Guergis's resignation. Is that right?
4:15 p.m.
Partner, Cassels, Brock & Blackwell LLP
I understood Ms. Guergis resigned from cabinet, but be that as it may, all of my face-to-face meetings with him were after her resignation.
4:15 p.m.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
You are aware that Mr. Snowdy testified under oath before the committee and that he attributed certain remarks to you. He said you asked him the following question: “Is it possible that someone can produce a photograph or a record whereby the minister, her husband [Rahim Jaffer], and his business partner [Mr. Gillani], who is awaiting trial on fraud-related materials—there is a warrant for his arrest for a handgun possession issue [...]—are dining together?”
Did you ask him that? Could a photo have been taken when they were dining together? Is there such a record out there? Was that one of your concerns?
4:20 p.m.
Partner, Cassels, Brock & Blackwell LLP
I asked that question of him on April 8, yes.
4:20 p.m.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
I want to address another area of concern regarding your clients—you partly answered the question earlier. Some of your clients, Conservative ministers or the Prime Minister, allegedly met with Mr. Gillani and Mr. Jaffer. You also allegedly asked Mr. Snowdy that question.
Is that right?
4:20 p.m.
Partner, Cassels, Brock & Blackwell LLP
I didn't ask him that question, no. He offered, as part of an answer to me, that he could find no evidence of any contact or any money flowing from the government as a result of Mr. Jaffer's activities.
4:20 p.m.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
Did you already have the information Mr. Snowdy gave you, or did it clarify things a bit more?
4:20 p.m.
Partner, Cassels, Brock & Blackwell LLP
In the telephone call we had late in the evening of April 8, yes, I would say all of the information he gave me was the first time I had heard that information.
4:20 p.m.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
Did you convey all the information you gathered from your meetings and discussions with Mr. Snowdy to the Prime Minister or someone in his office?
4:20 p.m.
Partner, Cassels, Brock & Blackwell LLP
I'm not in the position to answer the question of what I did with the information. But if it helps, sir, you can understand that I understood the information Mr. Snowdy was giving me to be highly material to my clients.
4:20 p.m.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
Do you consider Prime Minister Harper to be your client?
4:20 p.m.
Partner, Cassels, Brock & Blackwell LLP
Yes. He is one of the individuals I mention in my statement.
4:20 p.m.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
Did you communicate with former minister Guergis after being told that some rather embarrassing information about her was available?
4:20 p.m.
Partner, Cassels, Brock & Blackwell LLP
I'm sorry, something may have been lost in translation. I spoke to Mr. Snowdy first on April 8, and then I spoke twice, on the morning of April 9, with Ms. Guergis. Then Mr. Snowdy came to my office.
So the two interactions with Mr. Snowdy bookended the two telephone conversations with Ms. Guergis.
4:20 p.m.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
How many times did you speak with Ms. Guergis?
4:20 p.m.
Partner, Cassels, Brock & Blackwell LLP
I don't want to play with words. In the week leading up to April 9, I spoke several times with Ms. Guergis on a number of subjects. The telephone call on April 9 was obviously the first time I had a chance to explain to her the allegations that were surfacing.
4:20 p.m.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
Former minister Guergis keeps telling the media, at every opportunity, that she was not told why she was ousted from the government and the caucus. You were being polite earlier, referring to Ms. Guergis's “resignation”. It could be said that Ms. Guergis resigned involuntarily. She was pushed into it—I think it is obvious she did not do so happily. So she does not know the reasons why she was thrown out.
Is that right? Is she lying, or do you think, deep down inside, she knows full well the reasons why she was thrown out of the Conservative government and caucus?
4:25 p.m.
Liberal