National Defence committee  One of the things I discovered as a judge was very definitely independent-mindedness. That's the ability to rise above partisan debate. It's the ability to make a decision, regardless of the individuals involved. I obviously think that's important, as Commissioner, because I feel

National Defence committee  I'm not sure I understand your question.

National Defence committee  Are you talking about the commissioner or the CSE?

National Defence committee  My role is to ensure that, when the CSE carries on activities concerning the security of computer systems, nothing it does will interfere with the privacy of Canadians. In technical terms, I'm not sure I could answer your question.

National Defence committee  Absolutely not, no.

National Defence committee  No, absolutely not. I'm interested in the methods the CSE uses.

National Defence committee  In our case, those are two completely separate mandates, thank God. Otherwise, I would be unemployed, and my team as well. As I told you, we've only had two complaints. It isn't complaints that stir us to action, but rather the fact that we have an obligation to monitor the CSE's

National Defence committee  At this time, and they are all in this report, it is between five and nine, I would say, depending on the year.

National Defence committee  Well, that certainly has been the finding of my predecessors so far. I'm somewhat in the same situation as you are, sir. When I was appointed, I knew very, very little about the CSE, and even less about the commissioner's role, except that it had been filled by people I knew. So

National Defence committee  We have established a mechanism for complaints, which is available on the Internet. It's a mechanism that is very similar to the usual mechanism in the case of organizations that deal with complaints. People have a right to be heard, they have a right to a lawyer, and they have t

National Defence committee  Our team consists of eight to 10 persons. We have people who work on contract as well. My team mainly consists of people who have a lot of experience in the field of security and foreign intelligence. For example, former employees of the Privy Council Office of Canada and former

National Defence committee  Yes, indeed. That's what I understand from my mandate. My mandate stops when I inform the minister of any illegal acts that have been committed. What happens next is not up to me.

National Defence committee  Indeed, they might not be made public.

National Defence committee  First, to take you up on the hockey thing, I must say in those years, 1972, there was a big Canada-Russia series--

National Defence committee  --and Ken Dryden was in the net for Canada. I was always mad at him because my dream as a kid was to be the first lawyer playing for the NHL.