Government Operations committee  I agree that the public appointments commission is a very good idea, in principle. To add some conceptual clarity here, we should separate three different issues. One is the independence of the Governor in Council in making appointments. The second is the independence of the Gove

Government Operations committee  Thank you, again, for the invitation.

Government Operations committee  I would not want to say that categorically, but I would be surprised if I could find an example of where that were the case.

Government Operations committee  That's an excellent question. The short answer is that it depends entirely on the provisions of the governing legislation. So if the legislation includes provisions that enable the Governor in Council to make regulations or prescribe certain behaviours or dictate actions that m

Government Operations committee  Well, yes, although I'm not aware of circumstances where an individual minister is empowered to instruct an administrative—

Government Operations committee  I think early in your question you really hit the dilemma on the head, and that's the idea that Parliament empowers the Governor in Council to act in a certain way because it's recognized that that is the most efficient way to implement social programs or the will of Parliament.

Government Operations committee  If Parliament has concerns about the resources allocated by the Governor in Council to a particular tribunal or the degree to which the Governor in Council is interfering in the administration of an agency or tribunal, I think it's a point that's easily overlooked that Parliament

Government Operations committee  Thank you very much for the question. In leaving it to the judiciary to establish the principles that govern the appointment and removal of public office-holders, the hope is that as case law develops, the Governor in Council follows the law. Not every case will lead to litigati

Government Operations committee  It's possible. Absolutely. I have one more quick response to the comment you made...I think it was in respect of the appointment process of judges in the United States. It's not necessarily the case that providing a parliamentary committee with authority to consider removals f

Government Operations committee  What do I think of the public appointments commission proposal? I think it's a potentially viable solution to the dilemma, although it strikes me as somewhat odd that there would be all this process and input into the appointments end of things without any input into the removal.

Government Operations committee  The limited term is something that you see very commonly in various different appointments. Sometimes the terms are renewable infinitely, sometimes the terms are renewable once, and sometimes they're non-renewable. To be totally frank, I think the consideration in assessing whe

Government Operations committee  I think that's the key, the good behaviour. The at pleasure appointment--I won't saying anything else about that for now.

Government Operations committee  Yes, absolutely I agree. I think that's a positive development, and it should be implemented.

Government Operations committee  I don't know the answer to that question.

Government Operations committee  Yes. I didn't intend to minimize the role of Parliament or parliamentarians. In fact, to the contrary, the role of Parliament is absolutely fundamental. Without authority delegated from Parliament, the Governor in Council can do nothing. The limitation, however, is that Parliam