Government Operations Committee on Nov. 2nd, 2010

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

The reason I'm asking, sir, is that on January 26, 2009, Mr. Sauvé made a donation of $1,100 to the Bourassa riding association and $1,000 to Tory candidate Hubert Pichet, the candidate for La Pointe-de-L'Île. I'm wondering if there's any connection to you running into him in the restaurant, giving him Mr. Sauvé's leaflet and information, and then Mr. Sauvé feeling obligated to make a $1,000 donation to Mr. Pichet.

[Gilles Varin]

That's absolutely not the case.

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

There's no connection--

[Gilles Varin]

I believe Mr. Sauvé also made donations to political parties.

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

I wonder why that specific riding. He doesn't live in that riding. He just thought Mr. Pichet should get $1,000. And then Mr. Pichet, presumably, knows somebody in Public Works, because they very conveniently rigged the bid for this contract by changing fundamental parts of this contract three days before the tender closed. Otherwise Sauvé would never, never have gotten on that bidders list. He simply wouldn't have. He was out of his league. But if he pays $118,000 to you, you find a way.

I mean, why would a guy give you that kind of money unless he had an expectation of you fixing his problem getting onto this job? You'd have to be stupid to give somebody $5,000 a month so you can hand around leaflets to strangers on the street. I'm not an idiot, and I don't think Mr. Sauvé is an idiot.

[Gilles Varin]

You'll have to ask Mr. Sauvé those questions when he appears before you. I can't answer for Mr. Sauvé.

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

We will. We will. To give somebody $5,000 or $10,000 a month as a businessman is a Hail Mary pass. He must have thought you could do something magic for him to fix his business--something like this sorcery associated with this contract, I presume.

[Gilles Varin]

I worked for Mr. Sauvé for a long time before he got that contract. At that time, we didn't even talk about the possibility of getting a contract related to the government buildings. He had a lot of other contracts. After his bankruptcy, Mr. Sauvé started over from scratch. If I correctly read the article you have before you, his turnover had reached nearly $25 million.

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Sir, let's go back to the lunch meeting. Did Mr. Pichet actually join you at the table with Mr. Sauvé or did you join him at his table? In other words, how long was this meeting, this exchange?

[Gilles Varin]

I asked Mr. Pichet, who was seated elsewhere, to come by and say hello to me. I called him. I told him to come because I had someone to introduce to him. I introduced Mr. Sauvé to him.

He may have sat with us for 5 or 10 minutes. I don't know. I don't remember. I have sat down with Mr. Pichet so often and for such a long time.

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

You didn't just hand them the leaflet, then; you talked about something for five or ten minutes.

What is Mr. Pichet's day job? What does he do when he's not a Conservative candidate?

[Gilles Varin]

Are you asking me what Mr. Pichet does?

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Yes. What is his day job?

[Gilles Varin]

I know he teaches at university. I'm not sure whether it's the Université du Québec or the Université de Sherbrooke. He also works with Senator Pierre Claude Nolin.

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Oh, I see. He works with Senator Nolin. I see.

Did you meet with Michael Fortier when he was Minister of Public Works--ever?

[Gilles Varin]

I met him once; I went to play in his golf tournament. I may have met him in other circumstances, but I don't really remember. However, I remember playing in his golf tournament.

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

You seem very well connected, sir. When they call you “a well-connected Conservative lobbyist”, I believe that's an accurate description of you, even though the Conservatives have tried to disown you in the House of Commons. They say, “He's no friend of ours”. Up until today they were denying you were ever even a member of the party. I think I heard the Prime Minister himself say that “we don't know this Varin character”. Now it seems like you spend a lot of time hobnobbing with very senior Conservatives on a regular basis.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Mr. Martin, I'm sorry, but your time is finished.

Thank you, Mr. Varin.

Thank you, Mr. Martin.

[Raymonde Folco, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Good morning, Mr. Varin.

Mr. Varin, I would like to go back to certain aspects that you mentioned a little earlier. First I would like to talk about your conviction for corruption. You said that conviction occurred around 1976, but that you have no criminal record. However, you say you don't really remember it.

Mr. Varin, I find it very hard to believe that because that conviction was related to the work of the Cliche Commission. The Cliche Commission, if I remember correctly, lasted a long time and got an enormous amount of publicity in Montreal and across Quebec. I don't know whether it did across Canada, but that was definitely the case across Quebec. I find it very hard to understand how, despite the media coverage at the time, you can't remember why you were convicted around 1976.

Do you want to comment on that?

[Gilles Varin]

I don't really remember the circumstances. However, I know that I never received any money whatever for services that I might have rendered to them.

[Raymonde Folco, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Pardon me, Mr. Varin, that's not the question I'm asking you. You told us that you did not remember why you were convicted in 1976. I'm saying that's quite odd because, in 1976, there was an enormous amount of media coverage. To be convicted and not to remember why is surprising. It seems to me that, emotionally at least, that's something very important. That's my question.

[Gilles Varin]

It happened more than 35 years ago.

[Raymonde Folco, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

All right, I'll go on to another question.

Let's talk about the fees you received from Mr. Sauvé. You said you had received approximately $118,000. Is that correct?

[Gilles Varin]

That's correct.

[Raymonde Folco, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

That's correct. Are there any invoices that you submitted to Mr. Sauvé for which you have not received payment?