National Defence committee  My perspective on this—which I think is borne out by what I conveyed in my statement—is that when the political level of government is made aware of rumours or even allegations, I believe they have a responsibility to convey them to officials immediately and ensure that the infor

National Defence committee  I obviously am not aware of what information was potentially offered to the minister. All I can say is that, when I became aware of a rumour, I was concerned and immediately passed that information to senior officials and asked them to investigate. I think that's appropriate and

National Defence committee  In that situation, if I had been in my role as chief of staff of the Prime Minister and information or allegations were brought to me, I would have acted exactly the same. I would have immediately conveyed that information to either the national security adviser or the Clerk of t

National Defence committee  I think my actions demonstrate I took the rumour that was brought to me very seriously. I immediately, the same day, spoke to the national security adviser and asked for a review and investigation of that rumour. I think that demonstrates very clearly a high level of concern. At

National Defence committee  —briefed back to us by officials at the time.

National Defence committee  I've been very clear about that, Madam Chair. When rumours were conveyed, I took those very seriously and I was concerned. I wanted to receive from our officials the facts and to know whether there were any outstanding investigations or information that we were not aware of. Our

National Defence committee  Madam Chair, I appreciate the member is trying to have a bit of a partisan discussion about this. I'm not before the committee in a partisan capacity. I've been very candid. I was concerned to receive a rumour about the appointment. I reported that immediately to the Privy Counci

National Defence committee  I've been very clear. When rumours were raised, I was concerned. That's why I asked for an additional investigation review from the officials responsible for running the process. I'm not sure how I can be more clear with the member, Madam Chair.

National Defence committee  I might ask the member to restate the question. Is this a question about the ad hoc committee process?

National Defence committee  The member knows that the Prime Minister's Office is not an investigative body. Senior officials in the Privy Council Office are the ones responsible for interacting with the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces with respect to this matter. I've been ver

National Defence committee  No. As far as I recall, the chief of defence staff was always referred to with that title, both verbally and in written materials received from the Privy Council.

National Defence committee  I'm not sure I'm able to speak to that. I don't recall ever seeing that type of reference in written materials. Probably that's a good question for officials from the Privy Council.

National Defence committee  Obviously, from the perspective of the ad hoc committee, I think it's clear that the presence of the Clerk of the Privy Council and the national security adviser in the Privy Council on that committee, guiding that committee, speaks to the extremely high-level nature of the appoi

National Defence committee  All I can say is that obviously, when serious allegations are brought forward, and it seems they were a number of years ago, that does raise troubling questions about who else might have those allegations and what interactions may or may not have existed with chiefs of the defenc

National Defence committee  Madam Chair, I think I spoke very clearly to this in my statement. We were advised in March 2015—