Thank you, Madame Maynard. I'm very pleased to meet you. Your role will be very important for our democracy. There's nothing theoretical here; this is very political.
Your predecessor, Madame Legault, was a paragon of integrity and political virtue; someone who really understood the issue of public accountability in the service of the public. So when Madame Legault states publicly that she's concerned that government is sliding into more secrecy, I take that as a real warning sign. I want to know, if you're going to step into this role, whether you believe you have the tools to ensure that government doesn't drop the cloak of secrecy? Do you have the power and the willingness to stand up for those who will be wanting to look into the windows of government? My colleague Mr. Picard was very concerned that the act could be used to embarrass politicians. Well, that's the point of the act. That is the fundamental point of access to information. The Supreme Court states that the role of access to information is to facilitate democracy by ensuring politicians and bureaucrats remain accountable to the citizenry.
Do you have the tools to fulfill that job?