To answer that question, I think you have to refer to the remarks by certain members of the board of directors who insinuated it themselves. I would like to offer two responses to that question.
I had the opportunity to meet with Mr. Gauthier during the only union-management meeting that we had with him and that we had requested numerous times. That meeting was held on March 3 last. We had a long meeting during which Mr. Gauthier told me in front of witnesses that this mobilization around Rights and Democracy and the attacks—which he perceived—on the government in the media had to stop because there could be serious consequences for the institution and its employees. He also said that Minister Cannon was the institution's only support in cabinet and that the government was only waiting for a few more incidents or hassles in order to shut it down.
The second point I would like to make in reply is a quotation from David Matas, in one of his editorials in recent months. And I quote:
...once the institution does nothing but run its own program, once the government finances the operation entirely and directs it through its board appointees, why should it exist at all? Why should it just not be folded into a government department? Does Rights and Democracy as it has become serve any purpose whatsoever...?