What surprises me in all this is that when Mrs. Beal appeared in front of the committee, all of the civil servants took notes. They normally have a big book and they take handwritten notes of everything important that goes on in the meetings. So if you had asked Mrs. Beal, “Why did we ask for a moment d'attente, for a hold, a temporary hold to get answers to that question, probably she would have told you why. My answer is, probably we wanted to check if the minister's office was in agreement with the move.
On April 3rd, 2008. See this statement in context.