A party held in 2003 by Marc Bibeau, a friend of the Liberal party as well as owner of the Shockbeton concrete company, was the focus of questioning Friday afternoon at the Charbonneau Commission, as Liberal Party finance official Violette Trepanier did not buckle under intense questioning.

Trepanier said that no money was exchanged at the party held at Bibeau's home, which saw 150 entrepreneurs, consultants, Premier Jean Charest, provincial government minsters, high-ranking Liberal party officials and party finance officials get together.

“It was not a fundraiser,” said Trepanier. “Fundraisers are written on the schedule and I managed that schedule.” She said that the event was meant to be a networking opportunity for businesses, consultants and the Liberal government.

Her description was met with skepticism from Judge France Charbonneau.

Bibeau hosted the party as a celebration for the Liberals' electoral victory, said Trepanier, a former cabinet minister in the Bourassa Liberal government who more recently was in charge of party finances for about a decade.

Lawyer Paul Crepeau also asked the witness about many other meetings, including one which saw about 10 entrepreneurs pay $10,000 each. “I don’t know of that. Ten businesspeople at $10,000 that’s impossible,” she said.

The well-prepared Trepanier occasionally read from notes and repeated memorized prepared phrases such as, “we did what we could with the means that we had.”

Trepanier also went on at length on several occasions for several minutes, leading Charbonneau to tell her, “your message has been clearly expressed, now can we ask you questions?”

Trepanier acknowledged that those who hoped to get hired as a political attaché were required to send her their CV, even though that seemed behyond her duties in overseeing party financing.

Charbonneau expressed surprise at the arrangement and Trepanier appeared to backpedal, noting that she was not just finance director of the Lieral Party but was also tasked to fill government positions.

When cabinet ministers wanted to get a list of potential employees, “they just told me and I just sent some names,” she said.