Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
You suggested that I introduce the members of my team who are here on the Hill today.
With me are Rachid Ben Larbi and Alexia Alderson. This is Ms. Alderson's first time on the Hill. She usually works in my constituency office. I would like to welcome them.
I am going to continue along the same lines as my colleague Mr. Sari.
We have been working on the review of the Conflict of Interest Act since September. The Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner appeared before the committee twice, at the beginning of the study and last Monday.
I will now come back to the subject of the letter we received.
We heard from witnesses, including Michael Sabia, who is the first public servant on Parliament Hill with such an impressive track record. He has held positions at Hydro-Québec and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. These are incredible positions. We also heard from Marc-André Blanchard. They explained how the blind trust and the conflict of interest screen work. They have both answered all the questions asked by the committee members.
The Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner came at the beginning of the study. He then paid close attention to the testimonies of the two witnesses, Mr. Blanchard and Mr. Sabia. When the Commissioner testified again before the committee on Monday, he told us he was very satisfied with their answers. He was also very satisfied with the explanations regarding the blind trust and the conflict of interest screen.
Also, the Commissioner talked about our laws. As my colleague said, people envy us because we have the best structures against conflicts of interest. Our system is world-renowned. At one point, the Commissioner said that we could draw inspiration from British Columbia in order to add something to our system. He told us so, and it will be up to us to include it in the report when we get it done.
Finally, I find it a bit difficult to hear these comments, which are made only to use up time. Some are trying to shine a light on something that does not exist. The Prime Minister does not have access to the decisions that may affect Brookfield. He wrote it in the conflict of interest screen, and everyone seemed very satisfied, except for certain people.
The Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner is very comfortable with what happened, and he is satisfied with the explanations. I read the Brookfield letter and I understood it, but in the end, what is important to me is what the Commissioner will say about all the testimonies we have heard.