Public Accounts committee  To my recollection, no. The only involvement I had was in receiving and reading a memo from the deputy minister on July 31 that they were proceeding according to the guidelines, and that's it.

Public Accounts committee  Good morning.

Public Accounts committee  First of all, I was not there, I do not have all the facts. I left the department on January 15, 2002, and I believe that this happened in April 2002, therefore three months after my departure. It is obviously an unusual case. In fact, if my memory serves me well and if the docum

Public Accounts committee  Yes, sir, I can hear you perfectly well.

Public Accounts committee  I can see you and the clerk.

Public Accounts committee  No, sir. I have no statement.

Public Accounts committee  Yes. Just this morning, on arriving here, I received a copy of the blues from the meeting, and I read them, so I am familiar with what she said.

Public Accounts committee  No. Really, I found it a little bit strange that I was called to this committee. I left the department in January 2002, while the tendering process was going on, so I'm not familiar whatsoever with what took place after I left the department.

Public Accounts committee  No. That was the first time, and the only time, on July 31, I believe, that I received a memo from the then-deputy minister, Janice Cochrane, informing me that the department was proceeding to go to tender to acquire space for Canada Economic Development. That was an information

Public Accounts committee  No, sir.

Public Accounts committee  Not at all. The only thing I knew about Place Bonaventure was that Canada Lands, a crown corporation, used to have an interest in that building and sold it before this tendering process. I think they sold their interest a couple of years before. As you recall, I was then the mini

Public Accounts committee  No, sir, I had no information to that effect.