Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think that's the first question.... I don't know that it is his first question, but probably the first question the special rapporteur needs to answer before he is able to answer what a mandate should look like is what the mechanism should look like. What is the question we're trying to answer?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It's a very good question and one that I have been asking many questions about myself for the last while. It's not as straightforward an answer, unfortunately, as what you just described from south of the border. Having said that, I would encourage you to speak to officials on that further.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think all of that is exactly right. The only thing I would add is that the senior officials who are part of that panel have spent their lives, in most cases, serving Canadians as public servants. I think there's reason for all of us to have a lot of faith in the work they do.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I would disagree a little bit with the thought that it's not working, because I think the fact that we're all having these conversations speaks to the fact that this is in the public domain in perhaps a new and different way. It doesn't mean the institutions themselves have not been working.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I would offer two things quickly. One is that the review of the panel's work that spoke to interference.... NSICOP also continued that between 2019 and 2021. What I'll say quickly—because I can tell I'm getting the look—is that I think there was a lot of other news between 2019 and 2021, and perhaps that's why some of the reports coming out on this subject were not in the same kind of spotlight they might have been in if there hadn't been a pandemic, amongst many other things, at the time.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Madam Chair, it—

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Madam Chair, it's interesting that I was accused of silence, then told that I wasn't asked a question when I was trying to answer and, further, was then being quoted in the statement that was just made, so apparently I did say something. Madam Chair, I would say that what was being alleged or at least part of what was being alleged there were infractions of Elections Canada law, and there are mechanisms for those things to be investigated, so I would suggest that you be speaking to the appropriate agencies about what, if anything, should be happening on those fronts if those things are the case.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  One of the reasons I said in my opening statement that I would respect the bounds the CSIS director and the NSIA put in place, or had around themselves when they came to committee in a public setting, is that they are in a far better position to be able to make those determinations than I am.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think one of the challenges, which even comes out in your question, in which you named a number of the different bodies, is that there is no one person. Even though at least one of the members, I know, would have liked to have an inquiry already, one of the challenges is determining into which part exactly that would be.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Madam Chair—

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I can only speak to how I am aware of this through—

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think, Madam Chair, you'll know my answer on this, which is that I can't speak to the specifics of that.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Madam Chair, I would just remind the members of something I said in the opening that's come up throughout this committee, which is that interference in elections has an impact on all political parties.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Madam Chair, I'm going to have to give a similar answer, but I would say it's important to remind people, because of the insinuations coming from the member, that the election has been examined by experts and they have deemed it as one that was free and fair.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Madam Chair, I'm aware of the reporting on this matter. I can't speak to what different countries' ambassadors and consuls general have said—