Public Accounts Committee on Sept. 7th, 2007

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Would you have received copies of any recent e-mail since your appointment?

[Commr William Elliott]

There has been no such e-mail since my appointment. I believe the last one was after the government announced my appointment but before its effective date.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Is it true that in that e-mail you are referred to as Bill by the minister--sort of like Steve?

[Commr William Elliott]

I may well be referred to as Bill by the minister, because the minister calls me Bill, as do all of my friends, relations, and co-workers.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Do you report directly to the minister?

[Commr William Elliott]

I'm independent of the minister. I report to Parliament through the minister.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Mr. Commissioner, in your almost 20 years of public service as a senior public servant, have you ever seen a minister of the Crown communicate this way with a special operating agency, a crown corporation, or even their own employees in a line department? Are you a little uncomfortable with being referred to as Bill in these communications? Don't you think you should be referred to as Commissioner Elliott?

[Commr William Elliott]

I'm not uncomfortable with being referred to as Bill. I might point out that Prime Minister Martin, Prime Minister Harper, and many other ministers with whom I served in a number of successive governments called me Bill. That is my name. And I'm not uncomfortable with Minister Day's direct communications with employees.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Did Prime Minister Harper or Prime Minister Martin ever send out e-mails to 26,000 RCMP staff referring to you in a cozy term like Bill?

[Commr William Elliott]

I'm not sure I can agree that calling someone by name is a cozy term, but to my knowledge, and in answer to your question, the individuals you indicated, other than Minister Day, have not sent out such e-mails.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Commissioner, you were not able to answer the questions from my colleagues from the Bloc Québécois in French. Are you bilingual?

[Commr William Elliott]

I am not perfectly bilingual, but I have achieved a certain level of ability in French.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Excellent. I was just checking because you did not answer the questions in French.

[Commr William Elliott]

Let me clarify: my first language is English and when I want to be very precise, that is the language I prefer to use. I work in both languages, I speak to employees and colleagues in both languages.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Have you had any discussion in the last week with the minister, his office, or the PMO in anticipation and preparation for your appearance here today?

[Commr William Elliott]

No.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Going back to this question of consultation—I want to go back to the question I left you with after the last round—do you seriously believe that what you're proposing or what the task force is proposing to do is really going to help shift the culture inside the RCMP by having hidden deliberations, outside the eyes of the staff of the RCMP and not open to the Canadian public? Is this really the kind of transparency that Mr. Brown is calling for and that I think everybody in this room is calling for?

[Commr William Elliott]

First of all, I'd like to clarify one thing. The answer I gave a moment ago was not completely accurate. I did meet with Mr. Day this week; we did discuss the fact that I would be appearing. But we did not have discussions about what it is I would be testifying on.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Not about your testimony in any way? You did not talk to the minister about your testimony in any way for today?

[The Chair, Liberal, Shawn Murphy]

That's it, Mr. McGuinty.

Do you have any parting comments, Mr. Elliott?

[David Christopherson, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

On a point of order, on the need for full disclosure, I didn't realize this was an issue at the time, but as the Solicitor General of Ontario I did refer to former commissioner Thomas O'Grady as Tom. I'm sorry that I got too cozy. Now that I know it's a big problem, I want to throw that out.

[The Chair, Liberal, Shawn Murphy]

We will reprimand you in due course.

[David Christopherson, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Okay. I'll feel better then.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, AB]

I'm a little disappointed about the line of questioning—

[The Chair, Liberal, Shawn Murphy]

Just before you start, Mr. Lake, if I may, I want to clarify the undertaking to table e-mails. That will be done within two weeks, Mr. Elliott?