Mr. Speaker, this dealt with a member of my staff.
It is important to know that when I became Minister of Health in June 1997 Joanne Meyer was already in the office of the minister when I arrived.
She was an expert in aboriginal health medicine and served on the staff of my predecessor. She had more than 25 years of public service, years spent in aboriginal communities as a health care professional. I wanted her on my staff because of her expertise. I asked her to remain and she did. We entered into contracts. I expect they complied with Treasury Board guidelines, as always. She did the work and was paid the remuneration. She worked in the public interest.