Information & Ethics committee  I'm sorry.

Information & Ethics committee  Madame Benoit has been there since 2004, I believe. I think it has been 12 years.

Information & Ethics committee  The president of Canada Lands at that time, Marc Rochon, called me and indicated he was proposing that I be named a member of the board of the Old Port of Montreal.

Information & Ethics committee  It was on June 26, 2009. I remember. It was my birthday.

Information & Ethics committee  Absolutely.

Information & Ethics committee  I was not, sir. Mr. Chair, I was not.

Information & Ethics committee  Mr. Chairman, I'm a small, simple pharmacist in the town called Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Quebec. When I first opened, nobody came in, so I understand the value of a dollar. I still try to manage people's money the same way I would if it were my own. If you're asking me whether I would approve trips now, that's a question I can answer, because that's a relevant question.

Information & Ethics committee  I have seen it as appropriate for what I determined was the result of the meeting, which was the development of the urban beach. There was a further understanding of how Star Wars can work as an international exhibition. And I think when you're looking at a riverfront activity that has been branded, you have to keep on improving the brand and going to places like Australia, getting first-hand knowledge.

Information & Ethics committee  —were in from the beginning. Operating expenses are the purview of the CEO of the corporation.

Information & Ethics committee  Mr. Chair, I have never had a single meal with Mr. Soudas. In all honesty, I can say that, in 1984, I had a team of 2,000 or 3,000 people working with me. Subsequently, some of those people came with me to Ottawa to help me as a member of Parliament, and then as a minister in the federal government.

Information & Ethics committee  Mr. Chair, before I accept that entire responsibility, I want to say that the former chairman put the system in place, and I completely agree with him. Since I have been the chairman of the board, the system has been tightened. We have five professionals with a great deal of experience who sit on our audit and human resources committees.

Information & Ethics committee  It is very clear that you have to separate operational expenses and budgets from capital and discretionary expenditures. Operational budgets are covered by a budget that's presented and a plan that is approved. That plan and budget are then followed very carefully and progressively by an audit committee to make sure they are kept within the range of how the expenses were planned to be spent.

Information & Ethics committee  Mr. Chair, in almost 30 years in public life, I have never hidden. I have always been available. No reporters have called me. However, my number is in the phone book, as it was for all those years when I was a member of Parliament, a mayor or a councillor. I have not received a call from a reporter wanting to ask questions.

Information & Ethics committee  Mr. Chair, I am a pharmacist by profession. I have worked in our communities health care services for 50 years. I am a former mayor of Dollard-des-Ormeaux and I am still a pharmacist by profession. Perhaps you should ask the people of Dollard-des-Ormeaux if I have done anything.

Information & Ethics committee  I would like to give you a complete answer. Perhaps you think that I have not had a very meaningful career, but I am still working today. I invite people to come to Canada. I give speeches inviting them to come to Montreal, to Quebec and to Canada. I think that they feel there is some value in the love and emotion I feel for my country.