Mr. Chair, I'd like to come back to a very accurate comment, which is the comment made by the Minister of the Environment when he discovered that Madame Gélinas was working within the office, had withdrawn but had been dismissed at the same time, as the Auditor General told us in her testimony. The Minister of the Environment said that he was so impressed with the work of Madame Gélinas that she should be appointed as a member of the Order of Canada. I concur.
What I'd like to do now is read some of the operative passages from Madame Gélinas' letter to the committee and for all Canadians to hear. I think these are very important, before we put this motion to a vote. She talks about the duties of other commissioners, one of whom we heard from here today. She says:
If we examine the duties of other commissioners (Official Languages, Ethics, Information, Privacy, etc.), we find that in addition to carrying out investigations, these officials have a duty to promote and encourage best practices, without however becoming merely an advocate for one particular side.
She goes on and makes comments about:
Attaching the CESD's position to the Office of the Auditor General was not intended to restrict the CESD's mission and role to that of an auditor. And yet, this is what the position has become.
She goes on to say further:
The recent direction taken by the Auditor General, Mrs. Frasier—aimed, among other things, at integrating the work of the CESD group into her own reports and thereby eliminating the Commissioner's report as we have known it since the position was created—lead me to believe that the risk is now real and that this fragile equilibrium is going to be disrupted.
I think perhaps the most telling point of all is where she says:
A commissioner must be able to offer a vision, an approach, a way of acting and a general orientation. He or she must be able to debate, to promote activities, to work with departments in other ways than simply through audits.
And finally she writes, for all members to hear, especially those members who hold her work in such high esteem:
If Canada wants the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development to exercise his or her role fully, he or she must be independent of the Office of the Auditor General of Canada, because the two mandates are incompatible.
In closing, Mr. Chair, I agree with Madame Gélinas' testimony. It's unfortunate she was not able to come in and join us in person, but I would like to thank her, on behalf of all members, for her outstanding service over six years, and for her very lucid and to-the-point memo sent for all Canadians.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.