Government Operations committee  The previous statement was that she had only had one business dinner, ever, with Rahim; that was the way she put it. I had assumed that this was the Dr. Chen dinner. As it happens, we now know, and it's verified, that she attended at least one other function with Mr. Jaffer at Sassafraz during the Toronto International Film Festival.

Government Operations committee  --finding the facts, but when, as a lawyer, somebody makes an inconsistent statement such as that.... There are a number of reasons why somebody would be making an inconsistent statement. Some of them are quite innocent. Some are not so innocent. It's not for me to make that determination and decide what we do with it.

Government Operations committee  In terms of the allegations, I only spoke to what Mr. Snowdy had told me. We did, in the context of the second and longer conversation on the morning of April 9, talk about the mounting pressure that was on her. Remember the backdrop against which that week comes to us. She was under siege literally every day that week for something.

Government Operations committee  No. Again, according to the media reports, the allegation of the missing passport has surfaced more recently.

Government Operations committee  Well, I don't agree that it's “just an affront”, but in any event—

Government Operations committee  Perhaps I can answer this way. As the information was coming forward from Mr. Snowdy, I recognized that it was all material, and it raised the basis for the need for an investigation, an investigation, frankly, that I could not conduct. In truth, Mr. Martin, I didn't start parsing out what was criminal or what could have been regulatory in nature.

Government Operations committee  Interestingly enough, Dr. Chen did not come up in my first discussion with Mr. Snowdy. It was Ms. Guergis who mentioned Dr. Chen to me, and that's when I answered one of your colleague's questions about her being a source that raised concern.

Government Operations committee  I was not in a solicitor-client relationship with Ms. Guergis, no.

Government Operations committee  She didn't use the word “regularly”, but she did indicate, in what turned out to be an inconsistent statement, that the only time she'd had a business dinner to assist or be with Rahim was when she met Dr. Chen.

Government Operations committee  I'm aware of that now. I did not know that on April 9, when I spoke to Ms. Guergis.

Government Operations committee  Mr. Snowdy I think cast it correctly to me, that Mr. Jaffer was creating the aura that he was ultimately connected with the government in Canada, and part of that shtick, if I can use that word, was to point to a cabinet minister who happened to be his wife. That was Mr. Snowdy's assertion, yes.

Government Operations committee  I'm not going to get into legal characterization, but you can well appreciate, Mr. Martin, that this warranted further investigation. It was not for us to sit on this information. That would have been inappropriate.

Government Operations committee  Yes. Just to help you, sir, the RCMP has obviously asked that discussions with them not be divulged. They have an ongoing investigation.

Government Operations committee  They weren't asking me anything that would impinge on privilege. So it was not necessary to do so, no.

Government Operations committee  I spoke to the Ethics Commissioner's office on April 9 and followed up with a subsequent call one day the next week. I don't have it at hand, to be specific. I am aware of the contents of the letter from Mr. Giorno based on those communications. I can say without a doubt that all the information I received from Mr.