I'm trying to imagine the scenario as well if there were a current and a former commissioner sitting side by side, a scenario in which the former would want to, out of respect for the new one, be more than discreet, actually. That's the concern. She's the sole person in that position right now and can solely speak with authority, without any concerns about somebody sitting beside her who is standing in the position. To assure committee members, because the Ethics Commissioner has to always be discreet, I'll say this publicly. There's no interest in my mind in asking questions directly related to any of the investigations she has ongoing right now, because her answer, I assume, properly would be, “I'm not going to talk to you about that.”
Also in the current conversation has been the notion of certain aspects of the ethics act that she has looked at and recommended on previously—eight months ago, I think, was the last one, and then back in 2013. If she has any reflections as she's leaving the post, it's weeks later that she will no longer be the Ethics Commissioner. My experience has been that's when people can often be most instructive and most constructive. In three weeks, she won't be the Ethics Commissioner anymore. I find that then people are much freer to speak directly to things that we need them to speak to rather than having to worry about the next two, three, or four years of their time in the office.
I think this is an opportunity for us. We have the time. She has the time. It certainly doesn't hurt anything that we're looking to do, so why not take the opportunity that's available to us?