Thank you for your question, Mr. Villemure.
That's not actually my choice. In 2001, Parliament passed a bill concerning this matter. SDTC is thus the result of a choice that the minister or department made. The framework under which public funding in this area was to be managed was dictated by that federal act, which was passed under a previous government in 2001. The government wanted independence and transparency. That's how it's stated in the act; I'm not the one saying it. So it was a government choice. It was parliamentarians who made that choice by passing a bill and creating an act that made a number of provisions. Remember that many people at the time wanted more independence and funding that wouldn't be managed by the government. That's precisely what Parliament chose to do at the time.
Going back to the comments that my colleague Mr. Barrett made earlier, since the governance of that organization is determined by the act, you should choose your words carefully. It's not the minister who decides; it's the act that establishes this framework.
That being said, the contribution agreement describes the minister's rights. Fortunately, in response to the allegations, I got the organization to agree to open its books and allow us to examine its human resources practices. However, if you read the act, you'll agree that human resources practices are the responsibility of the organization's board of directors, not the department, and even less so the minister.