Thank you, Mr. Chair.
In this context, my comments are quite relevant, because we're talking about point 3 of Mr. Fortin's motion. The employee's duty to answer to a committee is always related to that of the minister, and the minister is responsible for that. Since the minister is responsible for answering to Parliament, it is part of the minister's accountability obligations. The minister can delegate certain matters to an employee, and this has been a long‑standing practice in the House.
It is recognized that for employees who have the status of political staffers, it is even thornier. These people, who may hold positions such as political advisor, may communicate with committee stakeholders and provide policy advice. At the end of the day, these people are employees. They can be fired at any time like any employee. There are rules that are followed, and there is always a disciplinary system in place. At least that's my understanding. But these employees arrive on the job one day and can leave at any time. That's why the Prime Minister entrusts that responsibility to the minister, who is an elected official.
It's not just me saying this, and it's not just the Liberals saying this. In 2010, under the Harper government, Minister Jay Hill made it clear that political staffers would not appear before committees. I will quote what he said:
These employees are accountable to their superiors and ultimately to their Minister for the proper and competent execution of their duties.
Then he said:
There is a clear case to be made that the accountability of political staff ought to be satisfied through ministers. Ministers ran for office and accepted the role and responsibility of being a minister. Staff did not.
I think it's fairly clear.
I wonder if we can ask Mr. Hill to appear before the committee so we can hear his testimony. He also said the following:
Like public servants, ministerial staff are not accountable to Parliament for governmental policies, decisions or operations. Any information given by ministerial staff on these topics would be on behalf of their Minister. Moreover, unlike public servants, ministerial staff are not involved in departmental operations and are therefore not in the same position to answer questions—