Who made the final decision? Ms. Chan, there must have been one person who said, “Do you know what? We're not going to deal with this. We're not going to get involved. This is the way it is in the Government of Canada. People get paid outlandish amounts. This is the way contracting is. We just sign the sections.”
I was very fortunate to be with Global Affairs Canada for close to 15 years. I was a management consular officer there. I've been through procurement strategies. Certainly I'll admit that I haven't received the extent of training you have, but the outlines for what classifies as a sole proprietorship are very clear, and what it is when these conditions are not met when there is a contract you are drawing from with a preferred supplier.
It is astounding that these contracts were four times over the amount. The rules are very clear, very precise, but at the same time we have our own judgments as individuals and as teams as to where we go. This doesn't make sense. This is an outlandish amount. At some place, the buck has to stop. Somewhere, someone has to take responsibility.
Who made the final decision that it was not for you to decide, that your organization could wash their hands of it and you could just write that note to Ms. Dutt and say that Canada is not involved and they have to work it out with these other three shady companies?