I think people just heard the name and jumped to a conclusion, because I did not say anything bad about Mr. Cotler. You should have listened to what I said before and after, and not just listened to the name.
My question is this. Could a Minister of Justice, for example, not be allowed to practise law, if he is a lawyer, after being defeated or resigning? I think that if people had listened to me correctly, they would have understood that I was defending the minister in question rather than accusing him of anything whatsoever. In my opinion, this definition is too restrictive.
Proposed clause 39 reads as follows:
39. (1) On application by a reporting public office holder [...] the Commissioner may waive or reduce any applicable period [...]
Do you think that could apply more generally? In other words, could the commissioner be given the power to reduce or waive the period in order to allow the public office holder to engage in lobbying or to work in his or her field after leaving their position? What do you think?