Information & Ethics committee  No, I do not, and I gave the same evidence, or made the same comments, to those two RCMP officers many years ago. I've heard all these innuendoes, and I've listened with great interest to Mr. Martin. I do not personally know of any kickbacks or any misconduct.

Information & Ethics committee  No, I do not, sir. I note here that this piece of paper I have about this committee says this is the study of the Mulroney Airbus settlement. I know nothing about that whatsoever, and I know of no evidence surrounding it. I wasn't part of it. I wasn't a minister involved. I wasn't involved with the settlement.

Information & Ethics committee  Again, sir, I have no idea of any of the particulars involving this consulting agreement, any more than what I've read in the paper and what I've seen in this committee. Incidentally, allow me to say, if I sounded a little bit acerbic, I do not denigrate the work of this committee or any member of Parliament.

Information & Ethics committee  I saw it in a newspaper, as far as I can remember. I didn't see it before that.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes, I know why I'm here. I don't want to say that either one of them is lying.

Information & Ethics committee  I'm not a judge. I hope there's some way there'll be a bookkeeping adjustment or there'll be a recollection. I don't know. I find it incongruous that one says $300,000 and one says $225,000, but how do I know?

Information & Ethics committee  I'm glad to say, Mr. Martin, that I have never been lobbied by Mr. Schreiber or been paid by Mr. Schreiber. It would be absurd for him to try to pay me, because I was so supportive of his efforts to try to get this project for a part of my province that needed work so badly, and it was a project that, while many were opposed to it, I thought at the time made sense.

Information & Ethics committee  No. As I just told you, I lost a couple of hundred thousand on the deal.

Information & Ethics committee  You're putting me on the spot, Mr. Martin.

Information & Ethics committee  I believe that's correct.

Information & Ethics committee  I would have been totally amazed if anything like that had happened. When I wrote that.... Let's be clear here. We all know, Mr. Martin, you particularly, you're a very conscientious and dedicated MP. The worst thing, as I see it, for anyone to do is to interfere politically when a matter is before the courts.

Information & Ethics committee  I don't think the RCMP takes very seriously letters from former politicians that poke fun at them. I don't think that constitutes an interference in their investigation.

Information & Ethics committee  They certainly didn't, but I had a couple of very conscientious officers named, I think, Muir and Henschel, who came to see me here in Halifax a long time ago about anything I might be able to tell them about ACOA or Bear Head. I spent a little time with them. I poked a little fun at them.

Information & Ethics committee  Madam Lavallée, I did in a sense, and I plead guilty to being a very poor one. I felt at one point like a quidnunc, a malicious gossip. I soon realized there was nothing that could be done; there was no way these two were going to reconcile. And I think you've seen some evidence of that so far at your committee.

Information & Ethics committee  That would be correct.