Mr. Speaker, we learned today that the Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec granted a speech-writing contract worth $24,804 to a full time staffer in his constituency office. Yet, federal law clearly prohibits granting contracts to government employees. And that is not all. The employee, Daniel Giguère, maintains that he was asked to write speeches that were not related to the minister's duties.
Why should taxpayers pay for such speeches? Will the minister promise to pay back the money paid to this constituency office employee?