Paul Sauvé says he suspects payouts to Gilles Varin were likely redistributed to party officials
Paul Sauvé, the owner of the construction firm LM Sauvé—which won a Parliament Hill renovation contract—testified that some of the $140,000 in payments he made to a lobbyist with Conservative ties Gilles Varin likely went to party officials. Speaking before a parliamentary committee, Sauvé said he is convinced the payments he made to Varin between 2007 and 2009 were essential to the fact that his company obtained the $9-million contract to renovate West Block in 2008. “Yes, I thought that there were payouts that were made,” Sauvé said, adding that Varin frequently boasted that he walked the corridors of power “with felt boots.” Sauvé also talked about a cocktail party that he organized in 2009 as a fundraiser for a Montreal Conservative Party riding. The guest of honour at the party was Christian Paradis, the minister of Public Works at the time. When the party was over, it was discovered that Paradis’s coat had been stolen. The next day, Sauvé got a call from one of Paradis’s aides asking that the $5,000 cashmere coat from Holt Renfrew be replaced for Paradis.