Mr. Speaker, I think the President of the Treasury Board was just trying to confuse the issue and muddy the waters.
The fact of the matter is that government members have decision-making authority. Mr. Jaffer lobbied no fewer than seven ministers who had that decision-making authority. He lobbied people whom he knew and who knew him well. They should have known enough at least to do some investigating. They should have asked him whether he was registered as a lobbyist.
Mr. Jaffer did not lobby the member for Burnaby—Douglas. He did not lobby the member for Winnipeg Centre. He knows that members of the opposition have no decision-making power. They could not give him what he wanted. They could not give him the contracts he was looking for.
The President of the Treasury Board was doing a disservice to this House by trying to confuse the issue and muddy the waters.