Information & Ethics committee  No. Some are in the public domain, but for others, no one knows that they are in progress. My policy is to not give any information if I am conducting an investigation on someone and the public doesn't know about it. First, we must complete the investigation and establish a connection to this issue.

Information & Ethics committee  In the legislation we are discussing, a very important concept is the concept of private interests. There is a conflict of interest if the conflict is with private interests. I had determined that private interests did not include political interests. The same is not true for partisanship.

Information & Ethics committee  I'm not sure that the ones I get complaints about are any more meritorious than the self-initiated ones. That's the first comment. The second comment would be that what happens in one investigation doesn't really retard what's going in the other investigations, particularly. The main delays....

Information & Ethics committee  Not a lot. Some jurisdictions have less complicated regimes, and some have ones as complicated. Ours is one of the more fulsome ones, so there's not an awful lot going on out there. I'm sure...in fact, I have the feeling there's one I'm forgetting that might be a good idea, but I've just forgotten what it is at the moment.

Information & Ethics committee  No, not specifically. I've been at it for seven years, and I think it has kind of smoothed out and we're doing what we can.

Information & Ethics committee  I identified a number of priorities. We're improving our registries. Before now, you had to go in separately to see a member and a minister if it was the same person, and we're going to try to fix that. We're continuing to pull together our precedents in an internal manual for the staff.

Information & Ethics committee  I absolutely don't know. I mean, the government report was very quick. It was just a short page and a bit, and it basically endorsed the committee's recommendations. It said that it would consider how to move forward, basically. I have no idea whether the intention is to move forward or not.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes. I have two suspended ones; the other one is Mr. Carson. I have, I think, about five ongoing investigations or, in any event, open files. They may not all come up to investigation, but certainly some.... I'm definitely investigating, I think it's five.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes. I was rather disappointed with the report. There were a few things that were accepted, but there were a few things that seemed to be quite problematic, the first one being the public office holder definition, which I've discussed already. What would be envisaged there would be an entirely different system, it seems to me, if that's the route the government decides to take.

Information & Ethics committee  Are you still talking about MPs or are you talking about parliamentary secretaries?

Information & Ethics committee  The MPs are not prohibited from owning a business or conducting business. Ministers and parliamentary secretaries are strictly forbidden to do so, unless I allow for an exception. I can do so for a non-profit or charitable organization. However, those are the only types of businesses they can be connected to.

Information & Ethics committee  Whatever you call that period of one or two years, it would be a good idea to have, I think, some reporting during that period on what you're up to. I also had a fair bit to say about the divestment of controlled assets. I find that those rules are too broad. They apply to anybody who is a reporting public office holder.

Information & Ethics committee  I think I missed part of your question. You are asking what it would be best to do? I am sorry, but could you repeat your question, please?

Information & Ethics committee  It is always difficult to know the answer to this question. Having lunch is not strictly forbidden. You just have to be able to tell if it may appear that the person who paid for your meal tried to influence you. It is really a judgment call, on a case-by-case basis. It also depends on your power as an MP.

Information & Ethics committee  Are you talking about members of Parliament?