Since there is a lot of work to be done, I consider it essential to be efficient in evaluating files, and reading resumés and letters of recommendation. There is also the ability to spot certain key elements of a person's life in these documents. That is not always easy to do with documents filed before this kind of board to help assess candidate applications.
It is a bit like the exercise you are going through today. You have my resumé, which is four or five pages long, and you are trying to evaluate who I am and what my qualifications are. The experience of having read candidate applications is, in my view, truly relevant to the exercise.
That said, I will go back to what I was saying earlier. The fundamental qualities are in particular a reputation for impeccable personal integrity—and I think I can lay claim to this quality—good judgment, ability to work independently and in a non-partisan manner, and a good understanding of the Canadian constitutional structure and of the role of the Senate and the people who will be called to sit in that chamber when they are appointed by the Governor General.