Public Accounts committee  We weren't privy to that, no.

Public Accounts committee  Because we didn't have access to the individual employees working in the NCPC, we interviewed some of the contractors, but all we had from the contractors was anecdotal evidence as to what they were doing.

Public Accounts committee  We did not see the physical deliverables that these contractors were providing.

Public Accounts committee  I know that Michael Onischuk was the ultimate contractor who was engaged to work in the NCPC. I do not know ultimately what he did there in terms of work.

Public Accounts committee  I believe it is accurate, yes.

Public Accounts committee  It's indicative of identifying the resource. I don't think the e-mail in itself in this case would necessarily be an issue. It's the whole process that unfolded after that in terms of the procurement as it happened.

Public Accounts committee  It would be a case, without necessarily looking at this file, of getting an RFP that you're issuing to perspective bidders whom you're selecting to send the RFP to, based on the knowledge you have of them, and then how you deal with the prospective bids when they come in, assumin

Public Accounts committee  My understanding was that clients in the second set of contracts we looked at, as well as in this case, with the NCPC, had a need for a resource, the resource had been identified, the resource had already been working directly for the client. There was a concern about contract sp

Public Accounts committee  The person who was desired to be hired was already identified by the client department.

Public Accounts committee  In this case, there would have been NCPC. There would have been HRSDC, NRCan, and some other client departments as well.

Public Accounts committee  I would think that these client departments, in many cases, may not have known how the contracting went about. They would have been just seamlessly working with this resource that had already been working with them. They would have gone to Consulting and Audit Canada, because the

Public Accounts committee  The client would approach Consulting and Audit Canada and say, “We need this resource”. This resource would then have been referred to Abotech for purposes of submitting a bid on an RFP that they knew was coming. Mr. Smith would be contacted by the resource and would get their r

Public Accounts committee  Well, I don't think there's necessarily an issue with a client department wanting a resource they've worked with and know can do good work and continue to do good work. The issue is whether or not this is perceived by the community as being an open, fair, and transparent competit

Public Accounts committee  This is an e-mail from Mr. Koziol to Mr. Brazeau that you're referring to?

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Koziol was already working as a consultant at the NCPC. It was evident from this e-mail that he had had lunch with Mr. Brazeau and was discussing requirements that they had for bringing in resources, identifying specifically who they wanted, the company they wanted, and the t