Sure. To be clear, the commissioner has proposed moving away from the current act. It's the CBA that actually.... We're not trying to enlarge the act here. We're actually trying to keep the act more the way it is in this respect.
The difference of opinion relates to the difference between automatic divestment and case-by-case divestment. The commissioner can speak for herself, obviously, but to explain her thinking just as an introduction to explaining where the CBA takes a different view, her thinking is that in many cases it's enough to divest on a case-by-case basis. You're a public office holder; something comes before you; you own those securities; you report to the commissioner; she tells you what to do, and you either sell it or put it in a blind trust.
We don't quarrel with case-by-case divestment as a mechanism, but it's our belief that in the case of certain public office holders, they're coming into contact with decisions or issues that relate to publicly controlled assets. Routine, frequent case-by-case divestment doesn't make sense. It's simply not practical.
I'll get to appointees in a second, but let's take a minister's office employee, or the example of a policy adviser to a minister. They come into contact with lobbyists so frequently, and they're lobbied on so many issues, that case-by-case divestment is simply impractical. We think the existing rule, automatic divestment, makes sense in that context.
In the same manner, depending on the nature of the appointee.... As an example, if Parliament sees fit to adopt a recommendation to include the Governor of the Bank of Canada under the Conflict of Interest Act, should the Governor of the Bank of Canada divest on a case-by-case basis, or is it understood that he'll have such contact with such issues so routinely that automatic divestment up front is the only way to go?
Similarly, for some of the boards, such as the CRTC, is it even feasible to divest on a case-by-case basis, or would you expect that because a CRTC commissioner has such a wide scope and mandate, the only practical course is what's already in the act, that is, you just get rid of your assets up front?
I hope that answers the member's question satisfactorily.