No, it was absolutely out of the question for me to get involved in the awarding of contracts—and I imagine, I hope, and I know that that will be the case for others who follow me, even in other governments. There are more than 10,000 trained employees in the Department of Public Works and Government Services. There are processes, a public system on the Internet called MERX, where people can see exactly what opportunities are available to them, if they are in one industry or another. All that is managed in complete isolation from the minister's office, as moreover should be the case.
On November 16th, 2010. See this statement in context.