Thank you, Madam Chair.
Mr. MacDonald, you said earlier that I had a duty to avoid placing myself in a conflict of interest, a duty to disclose if I did have one and, in that case, a duty to recuse myself. According to you, I am duty-bound to take those three steps when it comes to a conflict of interest.
Let's say I have a conflict of interest like the one before us and an adviser tells me not to worry about it because the decision I'm about to make is the right one. Let's assume that's the case in the scenario before us. In other words, the public service is telling me not to worry about it and to award the contract to WE Charity.
Does that exempt me from my duty to avoid the conflict of interest, disclose it and recuse myself?