Government Operations Committee on Dec. 9th, 2010

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

With regard to the meeting with Mr. Sauvé, you said, in response to a question by my colleague, that you went to lunch with him and that it lasted an hour. I would like to know what you talked about. You say you didn't talk about contracts. Do you remember what you did talk about?

[Bernard Côté]

I said it in my opening statement.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Say it again.

[Bernard Côté]

I'm going to reread to you what I said earlier.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

No, no, look at me in the eye and tell me.

[Bernard Côté]

I'm going to read you what I said earlier; it says exactly what it means:

During that interview, Mr. Sauvé told me about the trouble he appeared to be having breaking into the federal government market in Ottawa, whereas the volume of work in his area of expertise, masonry, was significant, with the renovations scheduled for the buildings on Parliament Hill.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

At that point, did you talk about how difficult it was for a Quebec contractor to do business in Ontario?

[Bernard Côté]

That was somewhat the gist of his remarks.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Did you talk about the fact that the Conservative government or Mr. Fortier wanted to be able to establish a more direct working relationship between the two provinces?

[Bernard Côté]

No.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

And yet Mr. Sauvé told us that's what you talked about. It's true you have a lot of memory lapses.

As minister for Montreal issues—you told me this earlier—Mr. Fortier was often available; he was often at the office. Did you know that he was supposed to meet with Mr. Sauvé?

[Bernard Côté]

I don't think so.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Since he was often at the office, as you told me, didn't you keep him up to date?

[Bernard Côté]

Yes, but I didn't—

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Did he keep you accountable for your schedule, for what you were doing, for people you were meeting?

[Bernard Côté]

The important files were submitted to him, but not the less important files or the ones for which there was no follow-up.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Did someone make appointments for you? Did the person who made appointments tell you that you would have to meet with Mr. Sauvé at a luncheon?

[Bernard Côté]

I usually made the appointments myself.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

You made them. You don't exactly remember that meeting with Mr. Sauvé, what you talked about or why you met?

[Bernard Côté]

I'm going to repeat what I said. I don't remember when the meeting took place; I don't remember how it was organized or through whom it was organized.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

You handle your own agenda, but you don't know through whom or how it was organized.

[Bernard Côté]

I don't remember. I repeat, I had a number of meetings—not to say hundreds of meetings—in the two years I was there. I don't remember—

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

From what you say, Mr. Sauvé had posters everywhere; he was at Montreal city hall. He wasn't a nobody. How many millions of dollars did Mr. Sauvé have? You don't remember, Mr. Côté, that you met him or how that meeting was planned? Are you making fun of us? I've been listening to you since earlier and I'm trying to get you to talk, but you have a very selective and very short-term memory. Don't make fun of us this morning! Who wrote your brief, Mr. Côté? Who wrote the brief you just read to us?

[Bernard Côté]

Madam, I think I went to school long enough to learn to write.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Pardon me, but this is shocking. Your appearance is shocking!

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.