Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses.
Okay, in the anticipation that we were going to have this meeting start about an hour earlier, I wanted to start asking the officials.... I had an opportunity to go back to the newsletter that Politico put out called Ottawa Playbook. If I go to the section of the November 5 edition, “Home Sweet Home”, it says:
Both the Consul General in New York, TOM CLARK, and his office raised concerns about his official residence in Manhattan prior to Canada buying a new C$9 million luxury condo, documents obtained through access to information laws show.
But a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada tells Playbook the input “did not influence the final decision to relocate.”
My colleague MP Bachrach had brought up a point. When Mr. Tom Clark was here, I specifically asked this question: “Did you at any time talk to anyone regarding a desire for relocation?” Mr. Tom Clark said, “Never.” Then I followed up with “Did anyone talk to you about the need for the move, at any point or any level?” Mr. Tom Clark said, “I was aware, as the head of mission, that there were discussions going on with the property division. I was not part of those discussions. I did not involve myself in them in any sort of way.” So, I personally asked the question of Mr. Clark. These are the extracts from the Evidence.
Based on access to information, Politico has drawn a conclusion. Can you help clarify?