Government Operations committee  It was an oversight on the part of my partner, during his last appearance, when he said there was no contract in place. Unfortunately, that was wrong information. The contract was in place. It was one I was not involved in designing. During the time I was removed from the company, I trusted Mr.

Government Operations committee  No, that was not my understanding, because contingency fees—

Government Operations committee  I understand, but my understanding of the intent was that it was going to be for us. That was for Mr. Gillani to collect finder's fees. It's not something we would be allowed to do on government funds.

Government Operations committee  Sure.

Government Operations committee  He didn't tell us anything different from what was on the website for the green infrastructure fund. He basically said to us that if we had any potential proposals that we were thinking about, we would be free, like anybody, to submit them. They would go through a process that would be evaluated to see if they were even fitting with the particular fund; if they were, then we would be asked to submit an application.

Government Operations committee  All the people I've ever talked to are people I knew on a personal basis.

Government Operations committee  Absolutely.

Government Operations committee  That's correct.

Government Operations committee  I appreciate the question, Madam Coady. I'm going to do my best, as I did try in April, to help the committee with its work. That's my intention in being here. I think after almost 12 years of being an MP—and many of you will find this out after you've served a long period of time and you move on to new work, whatever that might be after you leave here—your social network is still based very much on the work you did while you were an MP.

Government Operations committee  Well, yes, I would argue, Madam Coady, that although there were people I knew from the time I worked as an MP, or people who I had gotten to know in these various offices, I would access any department--you mentioned five different departments--just as any Canadian would, by picking up the phone and calling it.

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. I'd like to address your opening remarks right away. I regret that I was unable to appear before the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates yesterday. As I explained to the clerk of the committee, I meant no disrespect to the committee or its process.

Government Operations committee  We were proactive. We contacted her when we heard that the Liberal Party had sent that letter to her. We sent a letter to her on behalf of both of us saying that we were willing to cooperate in any way to ensure that our names were cleared. She is now conducting a review of the material and will be getting back to us.

Government Operations committee  I think that's quite a statement, Mr. Lukiwski. I know I've maybe made some mistakes. I've taken responsibility for those mistakes. I've tried to do the best job I can embarking on a private sector endeavour. I think you've known me long enough to know that I've never asked for anything from any member of this government in trying to do that.

Government Operations committee  As I said from the beginning, one of the things I tried to do always in any of the dealings we had with any members of the government was to recuse myself from anything that would either ask for information or request anything. I would not be involved with that, just simply because I was aware that there may be a conflict.

Government Operations committee  Initially, as I mentioned, when we were contacted by Mr. Gillani, he said he had big plans for us to work together and to do a technology review and that he was going to retain our services. There were a lot of things he said that never materialized. We were familiar with the technology as a result of getting the material, but after the fact it seemed that nothing was materializing in any business relationship.