Government Operations committee  My presence before committee today is highly abnormal. As someone who is responsible for conducting an administrative investigation that is ongoing, being asked to speak publicly is not normal, and it is a challenge. I do have responsibility to ensure the integrity of the process and procedural fairness for the individuals under investigation.

Government Operations committee  Absolutely.

Government Operations committee  Mr. MacDonald and Mr. Utano are not employees of the CBSA. I can't speak to the decision to remove them from the workplace. I can say that, generally speaking, it is normal in the course of an investigation for management to assess whether there is a need to mitigate potential risk pending the conclusion of the investigation.

Government Operations committee  I can't speak to any discussions we may have had with potential witnesses. I will say that I have great sympathy for the stress that anyone involved in an investigation—whether it be a witness or someone who is under investigation—may face, particularly with the level of public scrutiny this file has had.

Government Operations committee  I would disagree that there's been undue attention given to one over the other. We received allegations from Botler AI in November of 2022. It would be expected for that investigation to have proceeded much further than the new allegations that I received in December of 2023.

Government Operations committee  If I can have a minute, perhaps, to explain that timeline, we did initiate an investigation in November 2022. Considering the potential criminality, when we have interactions with police, we do respect the integrity of their investigation and, in this case, we could not proceed with interviews or with notifying the individuals under investigation with respect to the RCMP investigation.

Government Operations committee  Yes, it was in 2023.

Government Operations committee  It was in December after I received the allegations.

Government Operations committee  No.

Government Operations committee  I notified the Auditor General that I had received allegations to that effect.

Government Operations committee  We are required to report potential criminality. I have no evidence of that at this time.

Government Operations committee  It is.

Government Operations committee  I'm not aware of any sharing that would have occurred.

Government Operations committee  I would say that it depends who it came from. Obviously, I would have concerns if that had come from a member of my investigation team.

Government Operations committee  If it was to somebody to whom it was provided, it may be considered their personal information. They are free to share it as they see fit.