Government Operations committee  No, sir, but perhaps I could add that we have reviewed all of our files and interviewed all of the personnel who were involved, both in the parliamentary precinct branch and in the acquisitions branch, and there is neither any record nor any recollection of any phone calls, any c

Government Operations committee  Thank you for the question. Mr. Chairman, there were two amendments that were made just about eight days prior to the closing of the contract. I'll refer to them as they are posted on MERX, as amendments 3(a) and 3(b). Amendment 3(a) was at the request of LM Sauvé, and the reque

Government Operations committee  The second amendment was a reduction in the experience that you needed to supply as a masonry company. This second amendment advantaged the competitors of LM Sauvé, because LM Sauvé had met the requirement previously, and the first amendment was considered—

Government Operations committee  I'll just provide the explanation, Madam Bourgeois. The first amendment was considered on the basis of the criteria I outlined in my speaking points: was it a reasonable request? We looked at the request from LM Sauvé and found that it was reasonable, and in fact we had made a s

Government Operations committee  Thank you for the question, Mr. Chairman. An important part of understanding the context here is the separation of the roles and responsibilities, which ensures the integrity of the process. You have groups of public servants from the technical authority, in this particular case

Government Operations committee  Sir, if I could, the last change in the bidding process--is it the amendment you're referring to?

Government Operations committee  Those amendments were looked at and reviewed by a group of public servants from both branches, again to ensure the integrity of the process. If you'd like, Mr. Chairman, I can provide further details with respect to those amendments that are being referred to.

Government Operations committee  Absolutely.

Government Operations committee  Sir, in our contracting processes there is often.... The minister, obviously, has the ultimate authority for issuing contracts, but that authority has been delegated to public servants. It is quite frequent for there to be no contact with the minister's office, not only on this

Government Operations committee  Over the last several weeks, we have reviewed the documentation, assessed and analyzed all the e-mails and correspondence, and can find no request for a briefing from the minister's office on this project, sir, during the contracting process.

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have been endeavouring to shorten it up here as we've gone on already, and I'll try to keep my remarks to a couple of minutes. The acquisition of real property services such as construction is done in a manner that's consistent with industry practices,