Thank you, Chair.
I worry that on this committee, we do the work that the Ethics Commissioner is supposed to do.
I understand what Mr. Green is saying about knowing what the Ethics Commissioner is going to say, because they don't answer questions about an investigation that's going on. They can provide context on the act itself, but I still worry that there's an assumption from Mr. Barrett of guilt here when the report, even in the news media, said that the the minister met the requirements of the code.
It concerns me when we're superseding anything that the Ethics Commissioner does and saying, “Well, we know better than the Ethics Commissioner does, so we need to do our own investigation.” I'm not saying that we shouldn't do meetings on this, but I don't think it's helpful to get these additional witnesses here.
I'm also concerned about the presumption of guilt here without the Ethics Commissioner being able to do an investigation. An option would be for this committee to refer it to the Ethics Commissioner and ask them to do it.
I'll leave it there, Chair.