Did the deputy minister bring to your attention that these decisions were being made? Maybe board members were stepping out of the room when a vote was taken regarding something they might have a financial interest in, but it sounds like they weren't recusing themselves from the actual discussion around that; they were just recusing themselves from the vote.
If what the Auditor General has said is true—and I believe you said you more or less accept that—I would assume that the deputy minister and the assistant deputy minister would have been concerned about how things were transpiring in the board meetings.