Mr. Speaker, with regard to the ongoing disputes between the National Research Council Canada, NRC, and one of its former employees, Dr. Chander Grover, between January 1, 2004, and October 31, 2010, NRC claims solicitor-client privilege regarding the amount of legal fees, and waives the privilege in a limited way only to the extent of divulging the amount while retaining the right to claim privilege over bills of account that contain detailed information.
In response to (a), NRC has spent a total of $890,478.92 on legal services and costs for services provided by external legal counsel. These expenditures represent costs that were incurred for legal services provided, as required, over a period of six years and nine months and were necessary because of the nature of the requirements, which could not be met by the Department of Justice legal staff.
In response to (b), NRC has spent a total of $40,071.01 on legal services and costs for services provided by the Department of Justice.
In response to (c), no expenses were incurred for external communications advice.
In response to (d), NRC has spent a total of $65,619.45 on external consultants in order to augment its internal capacity.