Finance committee  That's what I don't know. This was a teleconference, so I don't know if there was anybody else on the phone. I don't recall.

Finance committee  The decision to choose WE and to enter into a contribution agreement, whether sole source or open tender, was a recommendation put forward by Minister Chagger. The Department of Finance considered that proposal and made our recommendation, which was favourable. At no time would

Finance committee  I don't recall exactly what was discussed, but I can say that we were in agreement with the proposal as put forward, recognizing all the work and policy that we had done upstream in terms of the capacity and the timing for delivery. We were in agreement, and fully supportive of t

Finance committee  The key point person where? In the Department of Finance?

Finance committee  I only had one discussion with WE, on April 24. This was a discussion—

Finance committee  Pardon me, I understand your question now. I can tell you that on April 20, from my minister's office Amit Singh connected with somebody at WE—I'm not sure who—and they were talking about volunteer opportunities. That is the part that I read in my opening statement, about enhanc

Finance committee  I can clearly say that up to the April 22 announcement of the Prime Minister, where we announced a set-aside of up to $900 million for a Canada student service grant, there was no recommendation about WE and no recommendation to enter into a third party. In fact, the recommendati

Finance committee  There are many kinds of due diligence, and it's not for me to speculate on how well due diligence was executed. What I can say is that the lead on the negotiation of the contribution agreement is not the Department of Finance. It is, in fact, the Department of Employment and Soci

Finance committee  Yes, you understand correctly.

Finance committee  To the best of my recollection, there was me, of course; my associate deputy minister, Suzy McDonald; and Rachel Wernick, who is the senior assistant deputy minister at ESDC. She may have been joined by somebody, but I would have to check the record. I'm not entirely sure who.

Finance committee  All I can say is that ESDC raised the issue. We never discussed where the issue came from. That is it.

Finance committee  I wouldn't know, off the top of my head.

Finance committee  Leading up to the Prime Minister's announcement, I imagine there would be a number of occasions where I would talk about the partnerships that we could enter into with WE.

Finance committee  I don't know. I can't recall.

Finance committee  I would very gladly turn over my emails and we could say very specifically with whom I was discussing. I would like to make clear to the committee that the discussions were on a broad range of ideas and companies.