OTTAWA - Natural Resources Minister Christian Paradis says he did nothing wrong by congratulating a construction boss whose firm won a big government contract.
Paradis insists he didn't talk about the contract with Paul Sauve during a Tory fundraiser in 2009.
But Sauve told The Canadian Press 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.
