Public Accounts committee  I really have no date; I cannot even give you the year. I remember that at a certain time he applied to the Public Service Commission.

Public Accounts committee  The department will have that. Mr. Chair, the short time he worked there was for legislative services, which should make easier to find his exact time, but I don't think it was for more than a month, and it was in the summer period. That gives you an indication to help find thi

Public Accounts committee  He was on my staff for most of the time. I believe he moved to the department for about a month, and then he resigned and came back to work for me.

Public Accounts committee  In Montreal.

Public Accounts committee  I know he travels to Florida, but the phone number I have is for his house in Montreal. I called him, I left a message, and he called me back.

Public Accounts committee  Yes, and that's the only number I have.

Public Accounts committee  I know that in the past he was spending some time in Florida, but I have no idea if he went down to Florida or not, and where he is in Florida. I have no idea.

Public Accounts committee  Yes, I was public works minister for all of Canada. I was also the regional minister for the province of Quebec. Therefore, as a regional minister I needed more information to facilitate the flow of answering queries and questions that were coming to me. My staff and I decided to

Public Accounts committee  No. I left the department on January 15, 2002, and I went to Denmark in mid-February, and I never had any contact with Claude Drouin or any of my other colleagues after I left for Denmark, except those colleagues who came to travel to Denmark and for whom, as ambassador, I had to

Public Accounts committee  I know Mr. Saputo. He's a prominent member of the Italian community.

Public Accounts committee  For many years.

Public Accounts committee  Not at all. My encounters with Mr. Saputo were social. We never discussed any of his business or any of my business; therefore, there was never any discussion on government business.

Public Accounts committee  Not that I know of.

Public Accounts committee  If you go through the minutes, Mr. Arès, I think, said very clearly before you that it didn't stop. He asked the officials to continue doing their analysis until he could get some answers to the question I was asking. So I--

Public Accounts committee  I think the word in the documents is “halt”. But again, this is an interpretation of the mail the officials were exchanging. But let me remind you that the tendering process had not started. These were discussions that the client department had with Public Works, and they were