Public Safety Committee on June 17th, 2008

[Margaret Bloodworth]

I'm speaking for the Privy Council Office.

[Marlene Jennings, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC]

Thank you. I'm glad you made that clarification.

So your statement is that the Privy Council only learned that Madame Couillard was a person known to the police on the day and as a result of the testimony of officer Souccar of the RCMP, when he appeared before this committee Tuesday of last week.

[Margaret Bloodworth]

I know what he said then.

[The Chair, Conservative, Garry Breitkreuz]

Okay, we'll move on to Monsieur Ménard.

[Serge Ménard, Bloc, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

I know that you do not wish to respond to certain questions because you do not have authority to answer or because it would in your view not be appropriate for you to do so. I will therefore put some of these questions to you and ask you to answer by saying “yes“, “no“ or “I am unable to answer“.

[Margaret Bloodworth]

I will try. Not all questions are answerable by a yes or no, but I will try.

[Serge Ménard, Bloc, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Or “I am unable to answer“.

[Margaret Bloodworth]

No, no, I meant that sometimes a yes or no answer is not sufficient, but I will try.

[Serge Ménard, Bloc, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Did Privy Council concern itself with the relationship between Mr. Bernier and Ms. Couillard?

[Margaret Bloodworth]

At the present time? No.

[Serge Ménard, Bloc, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

At any point in time? If you are not concerned by it at present, then we do not view notions of security in the same way. Were you concerned by it before?

[Margaret Bloodworth]

No.

[Serge Ménard, Bloc, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

No? Very well. The answer is not “I am unable to answer“.

[Margaret Bloodworth]

I think I answered that.

[Serge Ménard, Bloc, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Fine. Why did you release the latest communiqué, the one stating that the RCMP had never communicated with you?

[Margaret Bloodworth]

Well, that's a good question, because it's not normally something we would answer, as Assistant Commissioner Souccar said. It is always a difficult slope to go down in talking about security clearances. But the decision was made in the Privy Council Office that, given the speculation, it would be better in this case to actually say. But you're right to point out that it is not normally what we would do; we normally do not speak about background checks, whether it's for this government or any other government.

[Serge Ménard, Bloc, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

But you knew that you were going to appear before the Committee.

[Margaret Bloodworth]

Actually, I'm not sure I knew at that stage. I may have, but I can't actually recall. It wasn't really part of the decision. Anyway, I'm sorry, I can't remember when I knew.

[Serge Ménard, Bloc, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Does the Privy Council have access to criminal databases?

[Margaret Bloodworth]

No.

[Serge Ménard, Bloc, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

I also understand that the response you gave with regard to the RCMP also applies to CSIS. Did CSIS never inform you of Ms. Couillard's past?

[Margaret Bloodworth]

No.

[Rennie Marcoux, Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Security and Intelligence, Privy Council Office]

It confirmed publicly that it had no role to play with regard to the Bernier-Couillard affair.

[Serge Ménard, Bloc, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Now, you say that your role is that of advisor to the Prime Minister with regard to national security and intelligence matters.

When did you discover in the paper that Ms. Couillard had been involved with members of organized crime?

[Margaret Bloodworth]

I honestly can't remember when.