Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, witnesses.
I'll just say, on a personal note, that last night at 10:30 was the 26th anniversary of the tragedy of the downing of the Swissair flight, a crash in my riding near Peggy's Cove, in which over 200 individuals died. It's still a trauma for many people in the riding. I'd just like to acknowledge that and all the people in my riding who are still suffering from that and the families who lost loved ones.
In your opening you mentioned that the announcement on the SDTC tech fund, known by our side as the “green slush fund”, was made on June 4, basically within hours of the release of the Auditor General's report on the green slush fund's conflicts of interest and misuse of taxpayer money. Was the Minister of Industry or the minister's office and/or the deputy minister in touch with NRC before that announcement regarding this transfer?