The witness has gone to great lengths to talk about COSEWIC as being apolitical. But the decision for appointments and the review of such appointments are entirely political. That is, it's a political function to make an appointment and to determine whether or not that appointment is independent, if you will, in terms of who is being appointed. And it's the political process of Parliament to review the appointment and determine whether the government's judgment about a particular member is in fact independent. That's the purview of politicians and not of the witness before us today.
I would urge the chair to strongly caution the witness to stick to things that are in his apolitical jurisdiction.