Yes, excuse me, Ms. Gaudreau.
I believe that things are now working properly for the interpreter.
I just wanted to put into the record, actually, some of the very interesting recommendations from, again, someone whom I have huge respect for on this committee and who is, I believe, the doyen or dean of this committee, and that is Mr. Angus. He can correct me if it wasn't him who was present on the statutory review.
The 10 recommendations put forward, I think, give us much pause for thought. I believe a couple of recommendations have been adopted. They include adding public office holders such as the Governor of the Bank of Canada. That is very important.
This is the first recommendation:
Give the Commissioner the power to administer financial penalties and other penalties for breaches of the Act where an examination results in the finding of contravention, including but not limited to:
a) Suspension for a specified period
b) Suspension of Member's right to vote for a specified period
c) Require reimbursement of the value of the gift, hospitality or benefit received
d) Impose a fine not exceeding $5,000.
That's really coming to the heart of what we're trying to do here. We're trying to dissuade members of Parliament from contravening the act.
Recommendation two states:
Enshrine Ministerial accountability guidelines into the Act: Amend section 16 of the Act to include Annex B entitled: “Fundraising and Dealing with Lobbyists: Best Practices for Ministers, Ministers of State and Parliamentary Secretaries”, as follows:
a) Ministers, Ministers of State and Parliamentary Secretaries should not seek to have departmental stakeholders included on fundraising or campaign teams or on the boards of electoral district associations.
b) Ministers, Ministers of State and Parliamentary Secretaries should ensure that government facilities and equipment, including ministerial or departmental letterhead, are not used for or in connection with fundraising activities.
c) Ministers, Ministers of State and Parliamentary Secretaries and their staff should not discuss departmental business at any fundraising event, and should refer any person who wishes to discuss departmental business to make an appointment with the Minister's office or department as appropriate.
d) Ministers, Ministers of State and Parliamentary Secretaries should ensure that fundraising communications issued on their behalf do not suggest any connection between fundraising and official government business.
Recommendation three in the minority report is very interesting:
Allow members of the public to bring complaints, not just MPs.
Recommendation four states:
Extend the definition of “Ministerial staff” to include all work including contract and volunteer work.
Recommendation five states:
Expand the definition of Public Office Holder to include all Governor in Council appointees, including the Governor of the Bank of Canada.
I believe that has been done.
Some of these recommendations, Madam Chair, came from well-known organizations like Democracy Watch and experts in the field. I think it was a very comprehensive study, although clearly one that was quite controversial, because there are two minority reports. It just gives us an idea or a flavour of the kinds of discussions we can look forward to having.
Recommendation six states:
Empower the Commissioner to continue investigations that have been referred to the RCMP.
Recommendation seven states:
Reduce the value of a gift that requires disclosure from $200 to $100.
Recommendation eight states:
Maintain automatic divestment rules for reporting public office holders with significant decision-making power or access to privileged information, including, but not limited to, Ministers, Ministers of State, Parliamentary Secretaries, Chiefs of Staff, Deputy Ministers, Ministerial staff and employees of Ministers' offices. Maintain automatic divestment for appointees to agencies and bodies with broad mandates. All other appointees should be subject to a case-by-case divestment of controlled assets.
Recommendation nine states:
Define and toughen post-employment and secondary employment rules for MPs and Senators.
Finally, recommendation 10 states:
Include an apparent conflict of interest in the definition of a conflict of interest.
I think there's much food for thought there. I thank the New Democratic Party for the work they have done in the past and continue to do in this very important area.
As I put aside the idea that we should...and I look forward to us doing the statutory review of the act. It is the question of whether or not we have full confidence in the Ethics Commissioner to carry out his duties. To that, I would say that in the act we have the qualifications and the standards that the commissioner must hold for the seven-year term. I, for one, am very satisfied that we have someone in whom we can have full faith.
I will leave it at that. Thank you.