Mr. Chair, I know you ruled on this yesterday, but I do think it's important to point out for the witnesses that page 1068 of O'Brien and Bosc states:
The role of the public servant has traditionally been viewed in relation to the implementation and administration of government policy, rather than the determination of what that policy should be.
In my opinion, it would be inappropriate to ask what they would recommend to the minister. That would be between the public servant and the minister and, therefore, would protected under parliamentary privilege.