OTTAWA - The Montreal businessman at the heart of a government contract scandal is contradicting a Conservative cabinet minister's claim that they didn't discuss the deal.
Natural Resources Minister Christian Paradis said Wednesday that he never talked with Paul Sauve about the contract during a Tory fundraiser in 2009.
But Sauve told The Canadian Press today that the pair did discuss the contract at the fundraiser -- and that Paradis actually congratulated him on it.
The RCMP is investigating a $9-million contract awarded to Sauve's company in 2008 to renovate Parliament's West Block.
The Mounties are looking into the relationship between Sauve and Gilles Varin, a Tory-connected businessman.
Sauve says he hired Varin to help win the contract and paid him $140,000.
Paradis' office didn't immediately respond to questions.
