It's a point of order, Mr. Chair.
I'm sorry, and I don't want to cause any grief for any of us, including the Auditor General, but I'm very uncomfortable now. We've gone into a substantive discussion of the structure of the Auditor General's office. We've gone into a discussion immediately of the structure and the role of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development. We're looking at some of the challenges. I don't see anything in this discussion that shouldn't be public.
There are four journalists outside this room who want to cover this discussion, who I think ought to cover this discussion. These are important discussions for Canadians. They want to know how we are doing this reporting. I'll pick up any newspaper today and it is the headline across the country. Environment is in. It's a concern to everyone. I understand the délicatesse--using the word of my colleague from the Bloc--about advising us in advance, and I thank you for that, because Madame Gélinas is departing, and that will be announced this afternoon. But everything I have read here other than that, and everything that has happened in the earlier discourse between my colleague, Monsieur Bigras, and the Auditor General ought to be a matter of open public discussion.
In good faith, I cannot continue participating in a discussion.... I don't think we should go any further in this discussion until we open the doors and say it's an open meeting. Let's have it out. I think Canadians want to know. If there are concerns about how the office is structured, Canadians should know.
Personally, I'm pleased to see this discussion. It was the national round table that called for the creation of the commissioner's office; it was the red book of 1993 that called for the creation of the office. And there's a great history and we all want to see it improve.
So I would respectfully submit, Mr. Chair, that before going one second further we move this meeting into a public meeting and open it up. I think the délicatesse around Madame Gélinas is fine; we can deal with that. But I think we should now not circumscribe the debate and open it up to the public.