First of all, I have to tell you that some groups objected to the way in which the Conservative government announced your nomination for this post. I'm not sure exactly when that was, and that might be worth finding out. The fact remains that the position was posted for seven days on a website in July, raising the hopes of some persons who more than likely had no idea that at the same time, the government, more specifically, the Prime Minister's Office had offered the job to someone. As far as transparency goes, this process doesn't seem to fit this government's new ideology, and that's very unfortunate indeed.
Moreover, Mr. Marleau, a majority of committee members passed a motion—if you've read any minutes of our meetings, you will certainly have seen it—calling on the Minister of Justice to table new access to information legislation before Friday, December 15. Mr. Vic Toews told us—I have his testimony here and you can review it in its entirety if you wish, or I can show you where he said this specifically—that drafting access to information legislation is a fairly straightforward process that would take only a few days. We suggested that by all means he should draft this legislation because as you know—Mr. Martin could say more about this than me—the government has been thinking about reviewing this legislation for a decade now. Many suggestions have been made, many studies and reports done, and much thought given to this issue. Now, we're at the stage where the Minister of Justice must get off the pot—if you'll pardon the expression—and table a bill. It may not be the perfect bill, and we may need to twig it somewhat, but it's time for a concrete legislative measure that will be examined in the usual manner.
How would you feel about the minister introducing a bill by Friday?