Information & Ethics committee  No, I did not contact Mr. Dion. I think that he's a very competent man. He knows the rules. I have been watching this. Obviously, my name has come up. I am aware, as Mr. Fergus pointed out and as the rules state very clearly, that his job is to monitor the works of sitting members of Parliament.

Information & Ethics committee  Let me just finish. It's an ethical question. My point is—

Information & Ethics committee  My point is that this is about the ethics, Charlie, if I could, please. When Mr. Jamieson called us up and asked if we would help them, my answer then, ethically, was yes. Absolutely. I didn't need to ask the Ethics Commissioner to vet that question.

Information & Ethics committee  I wasn't involved in all the work that Mr. Jamieson had done. I spoke to him to determine whether, as a manufacturer, he met the ISO 13485 standards and had already obtained all the necessary approvals from Health Canada. I wasn't personally involved. I didn't know whom he was speaking with.

Information & Ethics committee  Obviously, Mr. Fergus, it saddens me in a certain way that this has happened. I understand that I am a past member of Parliament and things will be politicized and that there are people who will see that there is political gain to be had by that. I understand that; I'm not naive.

Information & Ethics committee  No, I understand the political game. I think what everybody should know and what everybody should really feel good about is that this is a wonderful coming-together. This could not have been done without the work of Mr. Jamieson and this consortium, which provided logistics, manpower and procurement expertise.

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you, Mr. Fergus, for your kind words about my dad. I know that has been suggested. I can state unequivocally here that I did not speak to.... People said I spoke to the Prime Minister. I did not speak to the Prime Minister. I did not speak to cabinet ministers to ask them or influence them for a contract.

Information & Ethics committee  I think he had it on April 11, I believe. This was happening very fast, Mr. Fergus. It was a whirlwind of activities. He had said that he was working on this and pushing it forward. In those first few weeks, we saw the tragedies unfolding around the world. When we think about New York state and New York City, it's very close to our major cities—

Information & Ethics committee  —and COVID did not know political barriers, so it was a rush and a very pressurized situation, I can tell you that.

Information & Ethics committee  Mr. Jamieson established the consortium. Someone in the consortium knew a person in our company and contacted that person. The person in our company suggested that the person in the consortium speak to Mr. Godara. Another person then called Mr. Godara. That's how it all started.

Information & Ethics committee  Before I go any further, Mr. Paul-Hus, I want to be very clear. I think that you said that I tried to create a shell company or something of that nature. However, I didn't know Mr. Jamieson. I had never met him before in my life. I didn't know anyone in his consortium. They were the ones who called us.

Information & Ethics committee  We can certainly answer your question about the prices. I'll turn the floor over to Mr. Godara. As vice-president and general manager of this section, he set the price. He can explain it to you in detail.

Information & Ethics committee  As Rick Jamieson said, in the spring of this year, a terrible situation was unrolling in Europe. People were dying because of a lack of ventilators. Very soon after that, the same situation reproduced itself in the United States of America, our neighbours just to the south, in New York State—a state that touches Canada.

Information & Ethics committee  Mr. Chair, I believe Mr. Jamieson wants to speak first, if that's okay.