Through the access to information process we've in fact seen that a number of your officials appear to have been quite concerned. Mike Giles, head of material management in your department, and Sabrina Whelan, senior contracting officer, clearly expressed concern about the process they were being asked to perform and offered advice on how the minister's chief of staff, David McLaughlin, should proceed. Yet this untendered contract to a partisan supporter, in clear violation of Treasury Board rules, just kept rolling on.
Mr. Wright, it seems as though each time the process to have this contract awarded hit a snag, Mr. Flaherty's chief of staff, David McLaughlin, requested one-on-one meetings with members of your staff to move the process along. Is that standard practice?