That is a very good question. I cannot answer it. Today, I might ask some questions. I would like to make two points. First, let us talk about my first meeting with Prime Minister Mulroney. When he offered me the position, he told me how the system worked. He told me that all my predecessors had performed this duty and that this would be one of my duties as chief of staff.
Second, I found this quite a normal practice, because I had heard about similar arrangements elsewhere. I knew from reading the newspapers that when Mr. Davis was the Premier of Ontario, there was a similar system in place. Before I came to Ottawa, I was a deputy minister during Mr. Bennett's time as Premier of British Columbia, and he too received a supplement from his political party. Consequently, this did not seem too strange to me.