Mr. Michael Wernick at the Justice and Human Rights Committee

On February 21st, 2019. See this statement in context.

February 21st, 2019 / 12:55 p.m.

Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet, Privy Council Office

Can I take the committee back to September. The meeting was on September 17.

I'll let you in on a secret. I'm trying not be facetious here. The priorities of the government and the Prime Minister in September were NAFTA, NAFTA, NAFTA and NAFTA. It was an all-consuming issue for the Prime Minister and his senior staff. Mr. Butts and Ms. Telford were completely consumed in NAFTA negotiations, which concluded successfully on September 30, and were not available for a lot of the normal business.

I took it upon myself with other people in the Prime Minister's Office to keep the rest of government files moving so in the end the government would not seize up. One of those files was reconciliation with indigenous people.

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