Mr. Speaker, here are the facts. We know the HRD officials had a crisis management meeting in late July. On August 9 the minister received a briefing on the hot issues facing her department. We assume it included that information. On September 23 the media lines about audit were on the way to her office. On October 20 a key aide to the minister was aware of the audit. By November 5 even the Clerk of the Privy Council knew about the audit.
The minister knew about the boondoggle audit before November 17 and yet she told Canadians something different, or she was the last one in the entire government to know about it. Which is it?