Public Accounts committee  A contract should include expenses, and that's all provided for, whatever's provided for in the contract. It's not unusual.

Public Accounts committee  The expenses should be included in the contract.

Public Accounts committee  Yes, it should be all-inclusive of the costs to the government under that contract. The all-inclusive price should be included up front.

Public Accounts committee  Again, the department didn't manage that contract. I think there was an estimate in the final contract that is a matter of record, and I can get you that estimate. I would say, given the daily rate that was quoted, that he worked far more hours than were covered by that daily rat

Public Accounts committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In both the case of the contract with Hugh MacPhie, but particularly of that with Sara Mintz—this was a very big budget, the 2007 budget, and it was an extensive period of time—they registered for more hours in the contracts than they actually charged th

Public Accounts committee  It does. I know they worked very hard. It's a very intense period at the Department of Finance. I believe they're here, and they can.... I have the contracts here, but it is something to that effect, and in fact it was released under access to information.

Public Accounts committee  They were full-time, night and day, seven days a week, for the whole period of the budget, like everybody else in the department.

Public Accounts committee  That's budget time; people work very hard. I think that's a matter of record.

Public Accounts committee  Yes. By the way, the name of the associate of Hugh MacPhie was Paul Tambeau. The two of them, in addition to whatever they were doing on speeches or political coordination in meetings with other ministers, worked on all the editorial comments that might have been made by the mi

Public Accounts committee  Well, it was one of the largest budgets in history, so—

Public Accounts committee  We were working on our fall update in 2006. We were in a race to produce our fall economic statement, which has a fiscal or economic outlook. We also did a lot of work over the summer of 2006—the minister, myself, the whole department—on Advantage Canada.

Public Accounts committee  No, that's not true.

Public Accounts committee  Well, allow me to correct your record. We let two contracts, and we are accountable for the details of them. There was one contract for which he was engaged directly by the chairperson of an arm's-length panel, Kelly Leitch, who was looking at a budget initiative. This was done

Public Accounts committee  Yes, we did, and we'll be accountable for it.

Public Accounts committee  Sure, we did that.