Government Operations committee  He was there, yes. He was the one who I think you would say hosted the lunch or the afternoon meeting.

Government Operations committee  Outside of that e-mail that we were sent the day after, that was the only further indication that there was to be something forthcoming with respect to funding our business.

Government Operations committee  No, nothing like that.

Government Operations committee  It's tough, really, to answer that as far as the impression I had versus what was actually discussed. Anything that we got as far as representations of terms or even the dollar amount and the interest rate, all that sort of stuff came from Mr. Gillani, and we assumed it was via Mr.

Government Operations committee  He didn't say, either way. If I was going to send him an e-mail, I probably would have ended up sending it to a parliamentary account. We never were instructed to. We were working through Mr. Gillani, as our intermediary, or broker, or whatever you want to call it, to funding. We would always contact him and he would liaise with the sources of funding.

Government Operations committee  Correct.

Government Operations committee  In February of 2009 we had begun discussions. By March 2009 we had an agreement in place that he was going to raise funds for us via a public raise. That was subsequently amended in June to a different type of public raise. By the time we got into the fall of 2009, we knew that it really wasn't going anywhere.

Government Operations committee  We were. I'd say it's a matter that has to be determined as to whether our company was actually public or whether we were sitting as a showpiece for a publicly traded company.

Government Operations committee  There was the Nevada Corp., which was HD Retail Solutions, and there was the Ontario Corp., which was the operating business. As to whether the deal had been consummated through what we were actually given is a matter at hand to be determined by the authorities.

Government Operations committee  Because we hadn't heard anything in a few weeks with respect to the government funding, first I questioned why I was even sent that e-mail. And then I tried to connect the dots and thought that perhaps he had sent it to me to let me know he was still engaged with Mr. Jaffer--

Government Operations committee  Yes--and that the funding might be forthcoming even at that point.

Government Operations committee  Yes, I was here for the end of it.

Government Operations committee  No, I certainly do not. I lived in the U.S. for ten years. I had a better idea of what lobbying was about in the U.S. than I do in Canada. But at the very least, I understand it has something to do with--

Government Operations committee  That's correct.

Government Operations committee  Did I think he could get us funding for our company? Yes, I thought he could be a link to getting us government funding. Did I think he was going to open the doors to the Prime Minister's Office? No. That was a stretch, even in my wildest dreams.