Evidence of meeting #27 for Public Safety and National Security in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was questions.
A recording is available from Parliament.
3:35 p.m.
Liberal
Sue Barnes Liberal London West, ON
So the letter was received November 2, and that would be probably at least three weeks before his appearance.
3:35 p.m.
Associate Deputy Minister, Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Yes.
3:35 p.m.
Liberal
Sue Barnes Liberal London West, ON
Okay.
At any point since December 5, have either of you met with the minister, or the Prime Minister, or officials from the Prime Minister's Office to discuss the second testimony that we heard in this committee on December 5?
Ms. Bloodworth first of all, please.
3:35 p.m.
National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister & Associate Secretary to the Cabinet, Privy Council Office
With the Prime Minister? No.
Who were the other people?
January 30th, 2007 / 3:35 p.m.
National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister & Associate Secretary to the Cabinet, Privy Council Office
3:35 p.m.
Liberal
Sue Barnes Liberal London West, ON
After December 5, did you have discussions or meetings regarding Mr. Zaccardelli's testimony here on December 5?
3:35 p.m.
National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister & Associate Secretary to the Cabinet, Privy Council Office
No, I met with Mr. Zaccardelli. I did not discuss it with the Prime Minister.
3:35 p.m.
Associate Deputy Minister, Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
I may have had discussions with my deputy minister. I had no meetings with anyone else nor did I have any discussions with anyone else.
3:35 p.m.
Liberal
Sue Barnes Liberal London West, ON
Okay.
We've all heard or seen some changes between Mr. Zaccardelli's first testimony and the second time he appeared at this committee. I was just wondering, which one of those two various testimonies do you believe fits the reality of the situation? Which one do you believe?
3:35 p.m.
National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister & Associate Secretary to the Cabinet, Privy Council Office
I'm not sure I can answer that question.
3:35 p.m.
Associate Deputy Minister, Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
I take the former commissioner at his word when he indicated in his December 5 testimony that he wanted to clarify his responses to previous questions. Therefore, I take his December 5 testimony as a more accurate reflection of his recollection of events.
3:35 p.m.
Liberal
Sue Barnes Liberal London West, ON
But Mr. Elliott, you just said that you saw the November 2 letter three weeks before, and there were some differences pointed out in that letter also from the testimony of September 28. What did you do about inquiries, in your responsibility, in the variations that were apparent from the November 2 letter?
3:40 p.m.
Associate Deputy Minister, Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
I made no inquiries.
3:40 p.m.
Liberal
3:40 p.m.
Associate Deputy Minister, Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
The commissioner indicated in his letter that his hope and his intention was to come back before the committee to clarify his responses, and I understood that this in fact would happen.
3:40 p.m.
Liberal
Sue Barnes Liberal London West, ON
So in fact you weren't at all concerned about some discrepancy or some variance in the testimony in terms of what you saw in the letter on November 2 and what the testimony was on December 5?
3:40 p.m.
Associate Deputy Minister, Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Sorry, you're now asking about discrepancies between the letter and the testimony on....?
3:40 p.m.
Associate Deputy Minister, Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
I'm not sure--
3:40 p.m.
Liberal
Sue Barnes Liberal London West, ON
On September 28 he said one thing. The letter started to clarify on November 2. We had variance in testimony on December 5.
You were obviously responsible for the file inside the department. You've said that you didn't do any further investigation. I'm surprised that you weren't curious, having read it, and that you didn't start some sort of internal investigations when you saw the November 2 letter.
3:40 p.m.
Associate Deputy Minister, Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
I took it from the letter that the commissioner hoped to come before the committee to clarify his testimony.