Mr. Chairman, what you just said seems to me to be very important. It was a mistake to make such a request at the administrative level. I would have really liked to have Mr. Gladu write to the deputy minister, or at least the deputy minister at Public Works Canada at the time himself rather than having me do it with Mr. Boudria. I would have liked to have Mr. Gladu write to the deputy minister and explain the concerns that he had discussed with me when we had a meeting between me, my chief of staff and him, and where he told us that it was very unmotivating for the employees, that there were significant costs involved in moving and that we were in difficulty—perhaps not in difficulty—because we had financial needs to help business. This is true, that was my mistake. I mentioned it at the outset. I wanted to do the right thing, but the deputy minister should have been the one to write the letter, because this was taking place at the administrative level. However, I did it in a transparent manner, by writing a letter because I had nothing to hide and I wanted this to be done in accordance with the rules. I thank you for having pointed that out.
On April 3rd, 2008. See this statement in context.