Procedure and House Affairs Committee on Dec. 16th, 2010

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

Absolutely.

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK]

Mr. Proulx, I believe, asked this question before, and I'll try to ask it again: to the best of your knowledge, have there been any other breaches concerning this one employee?

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

To the best of my knowledge, there have not.

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK]

Lastly, are you planning to change any of your hiring protocols or practices when instructing your employees as to their responsibilities in the future?

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

I certainly have looked at what sorts of protocols I can implement in my office to ensure that confidentiality is respected.

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Thank you, Mr. Lukiwski.

Mr. Paquette, you're next.

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

I will be sharing my time with Mrs. DeBellefeuille.

Ms. Block, I would like you to tell us how you became aware of the leak. You mentioned an email you had received. I would like you to elaborate.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

I returned to my office after a committee meeting. It was about 5:40 p.m. on Thursday, November 18. I was grabbing my luggage, getting ready to hop into a cab and go to the airport. Emrys stopped me as I was heading out the door and told me he had something I needed to see. It was an e-mail that had been sent to him by Mr. Ullyatt, with a string of e-mail messages included, at the bottom of which was an e-mail from Mr. Ullyatt to Lynne Hamilton.

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

So at that point, you realized that the email contained the committee's confidential draft report. You immediately understood that it was a breach of parliamentary privilege.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

I immediately understood it was a breach of confidentiality and that I needed to inform someone of that.

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Who did you notify first? I am asking because Mr. Ullyatt told us that you called him at around 7 o'clock the next morning, I believe.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

I got to the airport. I was in a cab with another person who was travelling to the airport. I had to board the plane right away. I landed in Toronto, and that is when I made the call to the chief government whip. I called him to let him know that I believed a breach of confidentiality had occurred in my office, that I intended to terminate the employee immediately, and that I needed help to secure my offices.

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

You immediately contacted the government whip's office. What did they tell you to do?

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

At that time, the office informed me they would help secure my offices. I needed to board another plane. There was a very short period of time between one flight and another, so I had to get on the plane. I could not have any further discussion with him. I arrived home at midnight. The next morning is when I phoned Mr. Ullyatt. I called him at 6 a.m. my time.

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Ullyatt told us that you were aware of all of his activities, so that you were aware that he owned two companies, RU Thinking Holdings and Bestmail.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Mr. Paquette, you're wandering into an area that is not covered under this order of privilege. We're here to look at the leak of a confidential document from the finance committee. You're wandering into an area that is already being studied at another committee, and I'd like to leave it there, please.

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Chair, I want to draw your attention to the fact that on these two companies' Web site, it says this:

“...Canada's only completely political mail provider...”.

That can lead you to believe that....

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Monsieur Paquette.

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

...Mr. Ullyatt did that to boost business for his two companies. I would also point out that his site says that the printing and stamps are free. That is somewhat concerning.

Fine, if you will not allow the question, we will find other ways to get the answer.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Madame DeBellefeuille.

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Ms. Block, for being here this morning. In response to Mr. Proulx's question earlier regarding Mr. Ullyatt's status, you said that he was a full-time employee and therefore on the House of Commons payroll.

When exactly did Mr. Ullyatt start working for you?

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

I hired Mr. Ullyatt shortly after I was elected in 2008.

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Since then, has he always been listed as a salaried employee on the House of Commons payroll?

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

Yes.