You see, Mr. Chairman, my recollection of it was that when the committee reviewed the estimates, we had all three commissions here in one afternoon, for two hours, and that was it. The panel held three meetings in the fall of 2005. The first one was simply an overview meeting to discuss things, and the other two were to hear specific requests from the Information Commissioner, the Auditor General, the Chief Electoral Officer, the Official Languages Commissioner, and the Privacy Commissioner. There's not much time.
I'm recalling the former clerk, Clerk Marleau, who came to the accountability committee and talked about the process of estimates. He said that we as parliamentarians don't spend enough time reviewing the estimates of ministries, commissions, and all sorts of things. He was certainly right regarding this committee reviewing the estimates, but I question, still, whether we're spending enough time looking at what's going on at those commissions. They're almost going to be up to about $10 million each, the three commissions.
I guess I'm looking for some assurance on the effect of this panel. I believe it has great potential, and I think we're all in agreement on its coming about, but I believe there needs to be more work done with it.
Could you comment on that?