Thank you, Madam Chair.
I'd like to begin by thanking all of you, even those who aren't here in person.
Mr. O'Neill, thank you for your presentation.
I know you have a tremendous amount of experience on Parliament Hill. I'm struck by how curious my Conservative colleagues seem to be when it comes to the specific nature of your exhibits. That's why I have some important questions for you this morning regarding the appropriateness of your being the museum head, of your remaining in that position, and of your being appointed to it.
Mr. O'Neill, you will appreciate that your leadership of the Canadian Museum of History may have been called into question by certain individuals in the past most certainly because you were perceived to have been very close to the former Conservative government.
In January, the website BuzzFeed posted a tape recording of a staff meeting that took place in 2012. And at that meeting, Jean-Marc Blais, your director general and vice-president at the time, described your relationship with the government of the day as follows: “What he's good at is to work the machine…[t]he arm's length is way shorter, if it still exists.” Speaking about you, he went on to tell staff to read between the lines, adding that the president and CEO “doesn't work alone…[w]e have our minister. Our minister is here often. Very often. Very, very often. And so that's a big change.”
Mr. O'Neill, what do you make of those comments by your former director general?