Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, there have been a couple of questions asked about whether it's acceptable to paper-over contracts for former public servants, and so on, and I was looking for the quote from the Treasury Board contracting rules. What they say about this is that
Without unduly restricting their ability to seek other employment, former public servants should undertake to minimize the possibility of real, apparent or potential conflicts of interest between their new employment and their most recent responsibilities within the federal public service.
Then it goes on to say:
No contract for the services of a former public servant in receipt of a pension or of a lump sum payment may be entered into unless it is in the public interest to do so. There must be no suggestion of special favouritism or privilege...
...Contracts for the services of individuals who have been retired for less than one year and who are in receipt of a pension, must include a contract fee that is abated in accordance with the formula outlined below, regardless of fee or contract value.
So in my view, those things were violated--certainly the spirit of it.