Government Operations committee  Madam Chair, I am not here to provide personal opinions. What I can tell you is that under my direction, the secretariat did accomplish what we had been asked to do. We did the required analyses. We held round tables. We created a network in the system.

Government Operations committee  I don't know. Could you clarify your question?

Government Operations committee  Thank you, sir. Madam Chair, the secretariat was created to do the work required to establish a commission. One option would be—and I'm talking about options—to do everything on the first day, and it would take a great deal of time before a commission would become effective. We were asked to do the preliminary work so that there could eventually be a commission and so that this commission would be able to immediately begin fulfilling its mandate.

Government Operations committee  I'll start with me. I did not appoint myself. Someone else did. That someone else could explain why I was chosen. However, I can tell you why I accepted the appointment. First of all, I felt that the objective was a noble one. Moreover, I am a career public servant. I was a deputy minister in a number of major departments.

Government Operations committee  What were they looking for as a team— It's required to—

Government Operations committee  If I may, Madame Chair, the chair of the commission was not appointed. Three commissioners were appointed by order in council, and my understanding is that they resigned.

Government Operations committee  There are no commissioners. No commissioners have been appointed.

Government Operations committee  The commission, Madame Chair, exists. There are no commissioners.

Government Operations committee  But there are no commissioners.

Government Operations committee  If I may, since there are no commissioners, I have to assume that function is not being fulfilled, but my information to this committee is that the role of the secretariat was functioning with the objective of supporting a commission.

Government Operations committee  The new Federal Accountability Act indicates, if my understanding is correct, that the government may appoint a commission, and to my knowledge, that has not taken place. Appointments have continued, because the prerogative of the Governor in Council remains in place. I am told--this is anecdotal, however--that given the discussions we had as a secretariat with many of the heads of agencies, crown corporations, and commissions, that within some of those organizations they have proceeded to review the procedures they have in place and to move in the general direction we would have hoped.

Government Operations committee  The secretariat was created by order in council. It has the status of a department within the Prime Minister's portfolio. This is similar to other examples elsewhere in the Government of Canada where a minister will have a number of responsibilities in her or his portfolio. So the secretariat was the department of which I was the deputy head, and I was accountable, therefore, to the Prime Minister as my minister.

Government Operations committee  Madam Chair, I seek guidance from you.

Government Operations committee  Thank you. As I indicated in my opening comments, where I quoted the legislation, the role of the commission will be to ensure that there are processes in place that lead to the consideration of qualified people for Governor-in-Council appointments. The commission would, I do believe, having developed a code of practice, ensure, because it has the role of oversight, that there are in place processes to bring that about.

Government Operations committee  I do believe I've answered the honourable member's questions in terms of what the secretariat and the commission are intended to do.