Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. The government is not trying to hide anything, senator. The reason given by the members — at the time — is that the meeting was shut down because there was information that they felt would compromise the ongoing investigations.

I will remind senators in this chamber that since these allegations came to the attention of the government, it has taken appropriate steps to get to the bottom of what has been a very regrettable, unfortunate and unacceptable set of situations. That includes ongoing investigations within the Canada Border Services Agency, or CBSA, and the suspension of contracts with a number of companies that have been implicated, as well as ongoing RCMP investigations. The government will continue to make sure these unacceptable procurement practices, and the reasons for them, are brought to light.