Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Minister.
I'd like to say at the start that I have no evidence suggesting that either of the two individuals performed poor work; my only question has to do with the process.
When you say administrative functions were not followed, we know there was a lot of correspondence by e-mail between your former chief of staff, David McLaughlin, and public servants in the department, correspondence that I believe made it clear that it would not be appropriate to use an untendered contract in this case. Implicit in your comments, if I'm not mistaken, is the idea that you did not get told by your former chief of staff about this correspondence before the contract went out. Is that a correct interpretation?