I would start by saying, Mr. Chair, that we have to recognize that CBC is a crown corporation. The Government of Canada is the shareholder of this corporation. People can say it's political or it's not, but that is quite the reality of the environment in which it works.
So the government is the shareholder of CBC, and it is usually the shareholder who appoints the directors of any corporation. The important issue we were trying to get at when we were doing our audits on the framework of how these appointments are made is whether they meet the needs of the corporations. Is there good identification of the skills and competencies that are needed around the table to oversee these and to be members of boards of very large, very complex crown corporations?
We do not question in any way the prerogative of Governor in Council to name the board members. I think the best practice in the private sector, certainly, is that the board would name the president. There are a couple of crown corporations--two, I think--in which that is the case, in which it is the board that names the president. That practice might make the president, instead of the minister, more accountable to the board.
But I'm not sure that we've noted that having the Governor in Council name the president has been particularly problematic, as long as there has been a good rigorous process to select the best person for that position.