Mr. Speaker, on October 10 the industry minister defended himself by stating:
The trip took place in the summer of 2001 when I was minister of health.
Once named Minister of Industry...I informed the ethics counsellor of all the particulars relating to the trip.
That is simply not true. In fact the minister waited five full months during which he actively lobbied on behalf of the Irvings: $100 million for the two shipyards, and the ExxonMobil contract.
Why did the minister wait so long to contact the ethics counsellor?