Government Operations committee  Yes, exactly.

Government Operations committee  Exactly.

Government Operations committee  You have to understand that, for very big contracts, even the minister does not have the authority to make the decision. He has to ask Treasury Board. There is an administrative structure that allows the authority delegated to our department also to be further delegated to other

Government Operations committee  Under the system, the authority is delegated to people at certain levels. There are a number of assistant deputy ministers and a number of directors general. We have them in our regional offices, there is a whole matrix.

Government Operations committee  As I explained earlier, a committee of the technical and contract teams made the recommendation. The recommendation came to me; I approved it, my director general approved it, and the assistant deputy minister who held the delegated authority signed off on it.

Government Operations committee  Yes; there is no evidence to the contrary. Do you agree?

Government Operations committee  Documents exist. I do not have them. Once again, when a contract is awarded, there are meetings every two weeks, I imagine, between the project management team and the technical side, with Pierre-Marc Mongeau and Robert Wright, just like on any normal site.

Government Operations committee  The procurement process is such that the decision was made by the technical and contract teams, under the authority delegated to them, and for which it was not necessary to get the minister's approval. The level of authority is determined by the amount of the contracts. In the ca

Government Operations committee  L'UNIQUE General Insurance is a registered bonding company…on the list of all the bonding companies approved by Treasury Board. It has also been an active participant in the Surety Association of Canada for several years. L'UNIQUE General Insurance is financially a very capable c

Government Operations committee  What is important for us is knowing that the company is strong and has the financial means that we need.

Government Operations committee  To handle all the remedial work. When a contractor does not provide the performance we need and we have to move them off the site, a lot of adjustments have to be made with a lot of people. The insurance company pays for all those things.

Government Operations committee  There is no indication in our documents that that person was contacted or contacted us. I personally never contacted…

Government Operations committee  Whoa! Are you talking about the general renovations on Parliament Hill?

Government Operations committee  I should not have said “whoa”; that is a technical question. You have to understand all the renovations that have to be done. The minister was informed in a general way. As to Mr. Côté, I don't know; that is why I am asking…

Government Operations committee  No, I was not…