OTTAWA - A Quebec businessman at the heart of a Parliament Hill renovation controversy that's under RCMP investigation says he made thousands of dollars a month handing out leaflets and talking up a construction firm.

But the job description Gilles Varin provided Tuesday to a House of Commons committee raised the eyebrows of opposition MPs, who wondered why a Montreal construction boss would pay that kind of money to someone to pass out brochures.

Construction boss Paul Sauve says he hired Varin in 2008 to use his Conservative connections to help get a $9-million contract to renovate Parliament Hill's West Block.

Sauve's company, LM Sauve, went bankrupt a year later and lost the contract, which is now under investigation by the RCMP.

Sauve says he paid Varin $140,000 for his efforts. Varin claims he was only paid $118,000, albeit with money still owing.

Bankruptcy records obtained by The Canadian Press indicate LM Sauve owed Varin's company, Varcan Communications, $14,673 when it went belly up.

Varin told the committee Sauve paid him between $5,000 and $10,000 each month, starting in September 2007. The arrangement lasted about two-and-a-half years until Sauve ended it in March 2009, shortly before his company went bankrupt.

On Tuesday, Varin revealed himself to be well connected to several Quebec Conservatives, including Hubert Pichet, an assistant to Tory Senator Pierre-Claude Nolin. Pichet has also been a Conservative candidate.

That friendship stretches back to the early 1980s, Varin said, even before Pichet worked as an aide to Tory Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.

Varin said he introduced Sauve to Pichet at a Montreal restaurant he frequents. He recalled going over to Pichet's table and saying, "'Hubert, I have someone I want to introduce you to."' He said they talked for several minutes.

Elections Canada records show Sauve donated $1,000 to Pichet in October 2008, when he was the Conservative candidate in La Pointe-de-l'Ile.

Varin said it's possible he passed Sauve's brochure to Pichet, but he can't recall doing so.

Varin also said he met former public works minister Michael Fortier at a golf tournament and at a few other events. Fortier was public works minister when Sauve got the West Block contract.

The Conservative government has tried to distance itself from Varin, claiming he has never been a member of the current party, or either of the two parties that merged to form it, for at least a decade.

Varin claimed he once held a membership in the old Progressive Conservative party, but he said he couldn't remember when it lapsed.

Varin told MPs he did not encourage Sauve to throw a January 2009 fundraiser for a Montreal-area Conservative riding association. Sauve claims he organized the event at the behest of Varin and the head of the riding association, Gilles Prud'Homme.

Natural Resources Minister Christian Paradis was the guest of honour at the fundraiser. He was public works minister at the time.

Paradis initially denied discussing any government business at the event. The minister later said he congratulated Sauve on getting the West Block job, and he listened to another construction boss gripe about the federal contracting process.

Varin's memory was spotty when it came to running afoul of lobbying laws in the past.

He said he doesn't remember precisely why a Quebec judge fined him $6,000 in 1977 for his role in several kickback schemes.

Nor did he recall much about approaching several Conservative cabinet ministers in 1993 to help secure a bailout for charter airline Nationair when he wasn't registered as a lobbyist.