Information & Ethics committee  I worked in the public sector for 39 years. I’m used to it.

Information & Ethics committee  The word "ethics" is in the name of the act itself, but not mentioned in the act at all. It is, however, the meaning of the word "ethics" we must use to carry out the act, to carry out its provisions. In my opinion, that is why the word is in the title. There is, however, no exact provision…

Information & Ethics committee  There are no exact examples of what is ethical. It’s more or less implied.

Information & Ethics committee  It’s important to note that it’s a concept we understand, but have a hard time defining.

Information & Ethics committee  This is really a question of drafting. If you try to define “friend”, you're automatically limited. Is this a friend or not? People will try to decide whether they fall under or out of the definition. If you just put “friend” and give the discretion to the commissioner to decide it, then if need be, it can go further to the courts in terms of a judicial review.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes. There can be a couple of cases on this. One of them is the assessment of friendship as a matter of fact. It should be measured not only by considering the closeness of the bond between the office-holder and the individual, but also against more objective indicators.

Information & Ethics committee  If I make an error, yes, you can have judicial review. If the decision I made—

Information & Ethics committee  I can't answer that. I said it's akin to solicitor-client privilege because it's advice. That's all we're doing. The whole idea—

Information & Ethics committee  I can unreservedly say yes. I don't see why it would be in the interests of any of the people who work for me to do anything but their duty and try to interpret the law and apply it. There's absolutely nothing.... They are selected very carefully. They are trained. It's very clear that what we do is help people avoid conflict of interest.

Information & Ethics committee  I only indicated my willingness to do so. I didn't realize that there's a formal request for me to provide such a thing. For that, I think the point was raised by your colleague Madame Fortier, and I said yes—that if anybody wants our advice, we can do that. It has been done in the past, but I'm not aware that either this committee or any other government body has asked me for advice on how to improve the act or the code.

Information & Ethics committee  That’s the hardest part. I understand your need, and that of the public, to know what’s going on as soon as possible, but on the other hand, I don’t want to ruin people’s private lives. That is why we have provisions such as disclosure dates for certain facts and redacted documents, for instance.

Information & Ethics committee  As you know, I cannot talk about the advice we provided. I answered your colleague very clearly on that matter. To give the best possible opinion, we will talk about the legal aspect, but also about the ethical aspect of the situation.

Information & Ethics committee  I apologize for using a Ferrari as an example. What I was trying to say is that the rules are clear: if it is a gift from a friend, it is acceptable. What I said is that, ultimately, if something is completely beyond the pale—I’m talking about an amount so excessive it raises questions—I can always self-initiate an inquiry as Commissioner.

Information & Ethics committee  Obviously, circumstances must be taken into account: the amount of the gifts, the friendship, the situation and all that. When necessary, the Act allows me to self-initiate an inquiry.

Information & Ethics committee  That’s my…