Allow me to answer the question. The amendment provides for accountability in terms of how appointments are made. For example, the obligation to report material failure is not an insignificant measure, quite the opposite. Although the report is submitted to the Prime Minister, because it is ultimately the Prime Minister who is responsible for the appointment process within government, it also has to be tabled both in the House of Commons and in the Senate. We call it the fishbowl theory; in other words, it is the very transparency of the program that ensures that there would be sanctions were the government not to respect the code of practice established by the commission. Any failure to comply with the code would be hung out in the open for all to see.
That is an example of an accountability mechanism. Subsection 1.1(4) provides further clarification by stating that the report shall identify any material non-compliance with the code of practice. It is a measure that would ensure that the government were named and shamed should it fail to comply with the code.
The amendment proposes that the appointments be made by the governor in council, while providing a key role for the Prime Minister in the appointments process. As a result, the Prime Minister, the cabinet and the governor in council have to assume responsibility for their decision. There is an obligation to produce a report in which any material non-compliance must be identified.
As a result, any government that chose to ignore the commission's work would have to justify itself publicly before Parliament.
Thank you.