Justice committee  Mr. Lynch was the chair of the board. I knew this was an active issue in October. I took the meeting with the company. They are not a pariah. It was not improper to have communications with the company. The conversation was a telephone conversation and not a meeting, and it last

Justice committee  I was cut off, if you recall, Ms. Raitt. I was proceeding to read the chronology and I was cut off with it incomplete, and I undertook to provide the chronology to the committee, which I have done.

Justice committee  It doesn't come up very often in a cabinet of 30 or 35 people. As the secretary to cabinet and the Prime Minister's deputy, I try to keep the flow of business through cabinet going, and I'm very watchful for relationships among ministers, and ministers and public servants. The Pr

Justice committee  The options open to the company were a matter of public record in the business press.

Justice committee  If I could finish sir—

Justice committee  You will know, sir, that it is possible for a company to retain a shell headquarters in a city and move the guts of its operations somewhere else.

Justice committee  That is not my recollection of what I said. I never said at any point in any conversation that this is what the company would do, because I would have no knowledge of that. I would know that there was potential risk of a number of outcomes from the company. I had communications w

Justice committee  That is not my recollection of what I said, and—

Justice committee  The Caisse, if I can—that is—

Justice committee  If I could— Mr. Chair, I would ask you for the ability to answer questions.

Justice committee  Fact number one about the entire file is that the case is going to trial and there is a prosecution under way. One possible outcome of that is a conviction, which would bar the company from public infrastructure contracts across the country and possibly in international markets,

Justice committee  No.

Justice committee  No, I did not.

Justice committee  These are not yes-or-no questions, sir. It is well known that—

Justice committee  The law was brought into effect over the spring and summer of last year. It finally was brought into effect, I think, in mid-September. Like many pieces of legislation, it would require implementation regulations and protocols, and it is a matter of public record that there were