Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
We'll make a decision as to whether we want to go forward with the CPC one or the NDP one, so I will, at this point, make an argument for why I believe it should be the CPC one.
The CPC one would give solely the commissioner the ability to make a decision about an investigation, thus taking it out of the political realm. This is what the commissioner asked for fairly clearly with respect to the testimony. Conservatives fear that if investigations are allowed to be directed by a minister, they could be politicized and used as a weapon to attack companies that are unfavourable to the government.
Not to be antagonistic, but we certainly have seen, in the past, governments that have utilized their powers to promote one company over another. Therefore, Conservatives are in favour of a completely and 100% depoliticized situation in which it is a non-partisan, independent commissioner who decides who will be investigated.
Thank you.