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.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Yasmin Ratansi
Order.
I would ask that the media please leave the room.
Committee members, I will....
Pay attention; otherwise you'll tell me....
Order.
Media, could you please leave the room?
Committee members, I need unanimous consent. I'm proposing that we hear from Mr. Hamilton, and after we hear from him, we go and vote and come back. Then we'll do our opening round.
Yes, everybody?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Yasmin Ratansi
Okay.
Media, the meeting has started; please leave.
Committee members, we are studying the renewable energy project, and we have before us Mr. Arthur Hamilton, partner with Cassels Brock & Blackwell.
Welcome, Mr. Hamilton.
Do you have an opening statement?
Go ahead. The floor is yours.
Arthur Hamilton Partner, Cassels, Brock & Blackwell LLP
Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the committee. Good afternoon.
I am a law partner at the law firm of Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP. It is a matter of public record that I have been retained by Conservative Fund Canada and the Conservative Party of Canada to act as its legal counsel and provide legal advice and direction to its various governing bodies, its employees, and its leader, the Right Honourable Stephen Harper.
I recognize that there has been a significant amount of public comments regarding the events of April 8 and 9 and my involvement in those events. To date I have declined to make any public comment on these matters or on any of the events that transpired following that date.
Declining to make any previous public comment was necessary to respect the various investigations that have been undertaken, or that may be undertaken, by legal authorities. Further, it is important that I respect the legal privilege that I owe to my clients--Conservative Fund Canada, the Conservative Party of Canada, its various governing bodies, its employees, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
I appear today at the request of this committee, and I will answer your questions while at the same time ensuring that the legal privilege belonging to those clients is respected.
There is one item I wish to specifically address in this opening statement. In media reports during the week of April 12 and subsequently, Ms. Guergis suggested she had no idea what she may have done. Her lawyer, Howard Rubel, stated, “She is ready to respond and co-operate but it's important that she not respond until she knows what the allegations are.”
I confirm that Ms. Guergis and I had two separate telephone conversations in the morning of April 9. At that time I detailed the allegations that were being made, not only against her but also against her husband, Mr. Jaffer. These allegations also spoke to a number of matters that involved Mr. Jaffer's business partner, Mr. Gillani.
It is now well known that following my two conversations with Ms. Guergis on April 9, she considered herself to be in a position to deliver an e-mail to the Canadian Press on Sunday, April 11, that stated the accusations against her were “baseless” and “unfounded”.
The fact of this e-mail from Ms. Guergis was subsequently reported by CBC news on April 13. What no one knew, until today, is that on the afternoon of April 9, I was contacted by Mr. Jaime Watt, the chairman of Navigator Ltd.
I understood that Mr. Watt was contacting me on behalf of Ms. Guergis. When Mr. Watt and I spoke, two things became clear: first, he had recently spoken to Ms. Guergis, Mr. Jaffer, or both of them; second, he knew the allegations that I had explained to Ms. Guergis.
Ms. Guergis still maintains that she does not know the allegations. As I have said, I explained them to her at length. Moreover, clearly Ms. Guergis remembered enough of the allegations to brief Mr. Watt, or to brief somebody who then briefed Mr. Watt.
During my testimony today, I do not intend to speculate as to why Ms. Guergis or her counsel have chosen to deny that she received a detailed briefing of these allegations against her by me on April 9. However, any suggestion that Ms. Guergis does not know the details of the allegations that were made against her is not accurate. To the contrary; not only was she briefed fully on those allegations by me, but I also spoke in detail about them with Mr. Watt when he called on the afternoon of April 9.
Madam Chair, committee members, thank you for permitting me the opportunity to deliver this opening statement.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Yasmin Ratansi
Thank you very much.
Committee members, there are 21 minutes left before the vote. Would it be okay if we did two rounds of questions, perhaps, and then when you come back there will be the third round of questions?
Liberal
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Yasmin Ratansi
We have unanimous consent.
Ms. Siobhan Coady, for the first round of eight minutes.
Liberal
Siobhan Coady Liberal St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Hamilton, for joining us this afternoon.
You spoke by phone, I believe, with Mr. Snowdy for about an hour on April 8, and then you asked him to come to your office again the next day. I believe that's correct.
Can you tell us what Mr. Snowdy told you during that call and your subsequent meetings with him?
Partner, Cassels, Brock & Blackwell LLP
Yes. And I appreciate that questioners have limited time, so I will synthesize.
The basis of the allegations, as Mr. Snowdy has already testified before this committee, is this: there is a significant attempt by Mr. Gillani and Mr. Jaffer to defraud potential investors as they hold themselves out as venture capitalists.
We can go into all the reasons why this scheme was questionable at best, but that's the base.
The more difficult part of the conversation was when Mr. Snowdy advised me that Ms. Guergis was assisting Mr. Jaffer in this enterprise.
Liberal
Partner, Cassels, Brock & Blackwell LLP
Mr. Jaffer was creating the illusion that he was ultra-connected with the Conservative government and that he could make funds available and effectively open doors to potential investors. Ms. Guergis assisted and amplified that aura of connectedness that Mr. Jaffer was presenting.
Liberal
Siobhan Coady Liberal St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL
I'll come back to that point.
Did you discuss offshore accounts or shell companies? A yes or no is fine.
Partner, Cassels, Brock & Blackwell LLP
In very brief terms we discussed offshore companies and shell accounts, yes.
Liberal
Siobhan Coady Liberal St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL
Can you give us a brief overview of what you discussed about offshore companies? Is it just what Mr. Snowdy has said or can you add to that?
Partner, Cassels, Brock & Blackwell LLP
It had to do with the way they would present investors with means to get investments offshore.
Liberal
Siobhan Coady Liberal St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL
You did discuss government access and that Mr. Jaffer was either selling or illegally lobbying? Based on what you just said, that was the premise, I think, or the foundation?
Partner, Cassels, Brock & Blackwell LLP
Yes. And Mr. Snowdy was clear on two things. Mr. Jaffer was certainly pushing that angle, that this was the value he brought to the partnership with Mr. Gillani, but at the same time, Mr. Snowdy's investigation, as he told me, could find no evidence of any success in tapping even one government dollar.
Liberal
Siobhan Coady Liberal St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL
What evidence did Mr. Snowdy offer to you on these allegations?
Partner, Cassels, Brock & Blackwell LLP
Mr. Snowdy and I, the first night, were talking over the phone, so I wasn't present with him. I wasn't able to see any file that he might have had or collected.
Liberal
Partner, Cassels, Brock & Blackwell LLP
The next day, I did ask him if he would bring his file with him. He advised me that he would have to seek his client's permission to disclose the file.
Partner, Cassels, Brock & Blackwell LLP
When he got to my office we talked further, but he did not have his client's permission to disclose any contents of the file.
