Evidence of meeting #143 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was email.
A video is available from Parliament.
Director and Chief of Staff of the Associate Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
With apologies, I was speaking to the role of the associate deputy minister. My daily conversations are with the associate deputy minister, who is my boss.
Conservative
Stephanie Kusie Conservative Calgary Midnapore, AB
Okay, pardon me, but who is your counterpart with whom you bring up points of interest to the minister? Whom do these occur with?
Director and Chief of Staff of the Associate Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
If I understand the question correctly, in conveying information to the minister's office, that largely goes from our floor to our liaison unit.
Conservative
Stephanie Kusie Conservative Calgary Midnapore, AB
Okay.
I'm going to go to the process, then, Ms. Nicholson.
What criteria do you personally use to bring something forward to the minister? You said you prioritize issues and you provide summaries. What flags you personally that something has to be brought to the attention of the minister?
Director and Chief of Staff of the Associate Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
The majority of the work I do in summarizing or prioritizing is in areas the leads within the department and the branches bring forward to my associate and identify as priorities within the department or that might be of interest or of need to update in the minister's office. I have never personally identified a priority for the minister.
Conservative
Stephanie Kusie Conservative Calgary Midnapore, AB
Okay.
How does the minister, then, flag decisions that are of importance to her?
Director and Chief of Staff of the Associate Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Again, my direct involvement with this is quite limited, but my understanding of the process is that the minister conveys to her staff what her priorities are, and those come down to our department via what we call a liaison unit, which works between the minister's office and the deputy's office.
Conservative
Stephanie Kusie Conservative Calgary Midnapore, AB
Did the minister's office ask you to send the July 25 correction?
Director and Chief of Staff of the Associate Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
The minister's office did not ask me to send any correction ever.
Conservative
Liberal
Parm Bains Liberal Steveston—Richmond East, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to our witnesses for joining us today.
Ms. Nicholson, as you work closely with experts involved in the sale of residences, can you share your perspective on how the department adhered to policies and ensured there was transparency throughout the process? Did you review the records that your office requested? Did they show any interference in this purchase by Mr. Clark?
Director and Chief of Staff of the Associate Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
The review of any documentation and the processes and procedures is done by my colleagues, the experts on this matter, who have years of expertise in the property branch. I don't personally have the expertise to review their documentation.
Director and Chief of Staff of the Associate Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
I would need to defer to my colleagues on that. I wouldn't want to misspeak. That's outside of my area and scope.
Liberal
Director and Chief of Staff of the Associate Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
As I stated earlier and am happy to clarify, the office of the associate deputy minister requested that, following the initial summary that was provided to the minister's office, a thorough review be conducted of all processes and procedures, including the chronology. That was what was presented to our office, and that is what I presented on July 25 as an update to the minister's office.
Liberal
Director and Chief of Staff of the Associate Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Again, to give you a more fulsome—
Liberal
Parm Bains Liberal Steveston—Richmond East, BC
That was just to confirm, with a yes or no, if that's in action.
Director and Chief of Staff of the Associate Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
I honestly don't know if it has been completed or not. It was asked, and the information was presented to me on July 25, and that's the extent of my knowledge.
Liberal
Parm Bains Liberal Steveston—Richmond East, BC
Maybe it has not been concluded, but has it been activated? Do you know if it has started?
Director and Chief of Staff of the Associate Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Certainly, the outcome of the information was conveyed in the email that I sent and provided to the minister's office on July 25 of this year.
Liberal
Parm Bains Liberal Steveston—Richmond East, BC
Okay.
What mechanisms are in place to avoid political interference in the purchase of any real property by Global Affairs Canada?
Director and Chief of Staff of the Associate Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
I certainly know there are processes and policies in place, but unfortunately that's outside of my scope.
I would be happy to refer you to my colleague Mr. Cousineau, who could better answer that question for you.
