Information & Ethics committee  No, he did not as I recall.

Information & Ethics committee  No.

Information & Ethics committee  Well, as we indicated to the finance committee chair, there was extensive discussion, prior to the briefing of the Prime Minister and then again at the May 8 briefing and the subsequent briefing, that the due diligence had been done. As parliamentarians know, there was no formal call for proposals, but officials were thorough in understanding given the parameters of the program.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes.

Information & Ethics committee  No, I'm not aware of that.

Information & Ethics committee  I'm not aware of that.

Information & Ethics committee  Well, I think we have indicated that the kind of due diligence with respect to the ability of the organization to deliver the program had to do with official languages in one case, the ability to reach out across the country—in other words, take care of all the regional dimensions—and ensure that Canadians who are typically harder to access, disadvantaged people and so on, would be able to be reached by—

Information & Ethics committee  If I remember correctly, it was late April, April 21 perhaps, when the broad outlines of the entire package for students were being briefed.

Information & Ethics committee  There is a preliminary period during which officials from Employment and Social Development Canada, or ESDC, and the Department of Finance outline the program and develop the details. I don't have the specific dates right now, but at some point during that period, officials from the Privy Council Office were informed and invited to take part in the conversations.

Information & Ethics committee  Madam Chair, I don't have an opening statement. Perhaps the only comment I would make is that I first began engaging with members of Parliament 40 years ago this summer. As a public servant, I have many times appeared before parliamentary committees. I understand absolutely the sacred rites of the House of Commons.

Information & Ethics committee  I certainly would make them available to any committee of the House. I'm not familiar with the procedures across committees, but I would be absolutely prepared to make the same material available.

Information & Ethics committee  As far as I know, Chair, again, I believe the law clerks of parliamentary committees do some examination of the documents. I gather there are still some translation issues, so what will be provided and has been provided is entirely in the hands of the committee, at that point.

Information & Ethics committee  It was in person, but I would mention that during this entire period, because people have been working at a distance, typically in our briefings of the Prime Minister, certainly by the time he was no longer in isolation, it would have been a mix of people in the room and on the phone.

Information & Ethics committee  I can't be definitive; I assume not. I do know that in one case where I was asked to provide a Zoom recording of a particular meeting and I undertook to do so, if there were a recording, it transpired that there was not a recording. So to the best of my knowledge, there were not recordings of meetings.