Well, under Bill C-2 it also said that prior to making a recommendation to the Governor in Council that a person be appointed, the Prime Minister
shall consult with the leader of every recognized party in the House of Commons. An announcement of an appointment shall be transmitted to the Speaker of the House of Commons for tabling in that House.
That's another step that, to my knowledge, wasn't done. If the government is saying they will comply with the terms of Bill C-2 even before it's implemented or ratified, just to be living by that higher standard, in Mr. Marleau's case that process wasn't followed. The leader of my party wasn't consulted that Mr. Marleau would be the nominee here.
This is what I'm getting at, with no disrespect to Mr. Marleau. He swore me in, in 1997, too. I think he has a fabulous résumé and is probably the right person for the job, but I also point out that others were interested. There were seven people we had on a short list. Two were currently information commissioners in provinces within Canada and were probably pretty darned qualified too, and a commission, a public appointments commission, made up of an independent panel may have wanted to analyze this and those other worthy candidates further. That's all I'm trying to raise here.