Thank you.
I've had a chance to go through the blues and find the exact wording. There was an exchange between Mr. Brison and Mr. Cappe, which is no doubt why Mr. Brison remembers it so much more intimately than the rest of us. Mr. Brison is asking Mr. Cappe some questions, Mr. Cappe is responding, and then Mr. Brison says:
And using cabinet confidence as a reason not to provide those costs to Parliament once the legislation is tabled is wrong?
Mr. Cappe responds:
I've let you put words in my mouth up until now; I'm going to back up on this and say that I think it's unjustified.
There are two things here. First of all, I think the word “unfounded” is not the right word. If you want to use “unjustified”, that would be a more accurate statement. So I might suggest that.
The second thing is that I think it's reasonable to point out that Mr. Cappe did not think it was wrong, and when that word was suggested to him he specifically rejected it. I think there's a very important distinction to be made there. I do think the text should reflect that. I don't think we should have a big fight over that, but I do think that's a significant point--unjustified, but not actually wrong.