Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chair, I was not certain what the committee would ask, so I prepared myself the best I could, and if I've—

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chair, I will, but my current understanding is that the Department of National Defence does not audit compliance against that policy. I will check to see if there has been auditing done, but I am not aware of any. Troy may—

Public Accounts committee  Certainly, Mr. Chair. The key evidence for me was the signed contract with a date after his employment with the public service—National Defence—started, but I do want to be clear that my bigger concern was around his lack of disclosure of his conflicts as an employee. That al

Public Accounts committee  I would say it's highly suspicious. He did provide an explanation as to how that signature occurred, but he also, I believe, Mr. Chair, talked about the delayed process in putting his assets or business interests into a blind trust. Again, I am more concerned about his lack of d

Public Accounts committee  I would say, Mr. Chair, that it depends on the area. We've certainly seen growth in both the number of our public servants and also in our contracted dollars over the last few years. The defence budget is increasing. Both are growing. I think we've had some interesting discussio

Public Accounts committee  I wouldn't, Mr. Chair. It's a tough one to answer at such a high level. I would say that when you're looking at the contracted services through body shops or agencies, they are more often than not a question of public service versus contractor, not a question of armed forces me

Public Accounts committee  If there is a family member working for the same department, that is a concern, since there were problems with Mr. Yeo and ethics. I am not aware of any link between contracting and any family relations who work in the department. Based on this question, I'm happy to go back and

Public Accounts committee  Yes, I'm aware of the strategy for indigenous procurement.

Public Accounts committee  I believe the goal, Mr. Chair, is 5%.

Public Accounts committee  I cannot give you that number, Mr. Chair. I'm not sure if my colleague, Troy, can.

Public Accounts committee  We do have people who are monitoring our compliance with the strategy. I'm happy to provide further information to the committee on how we're doing.

Public Accounts committee  I'm aware that Mr. Yeo applied through this strategy.

Public Accounts committee  Do I agree with the strategy as a goal for increasing participation in government business by indigenous firms and individuals? Yes, I agree with the strategy.

Public Accounts committee  I'm struggling, Mr. Chair, to figure out the relevance here. We know Mr. Yeo—

Public Accounts committee  I am, and I'm also aware that a business directory is maintained, and that Mr. Yeo was on that through Dalian—