Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Again, this is advice from the Information Commissioner. I do want to say that I think the practice the Prime Minister has adopted of publishing mandate letters is really a positive step forward. I'll note that it was without any legislation required. It set a good example, and the new Premier of British Columbia, John Horgan, published all the mandate letters. It's beginning to catch on as a practice, and that's great. I'm glad to see legislated here that we will continue to see that from future prime ministers.
The Information Commissioner noted that there's no time limit attached to this, and that this might be a good idea, so that's my amendment here, and I do appreciate the gender neutrality with which we refer to a prime minister, whether “he or she establishes the mandate of any other minister within 30 days after the issuance of the letter.”
I think it's quite likely that, in the normal course of things, with a requirement like this, a prime minister would make the mandate letter public, but there's nothing that would cause the prime minister under this legislation, imagining a future prime minister who didn't want to publish a mandate letter, to do so when there's no time limit.
Thank you.