Thank you, Mr. Chair. Indeed, I do.
The amendment that we will be putting forward for clause 14 is this:
That Bill S-211, in Clause 14, be amended
(a) by replacing lines 9 and 10 on page 8 with the following:
“14(1) The Minister must designate the Ombudsperson and may designate any other person or class of person for the purposes of the administration and enforce-”
(b) by adding after line 11 on page 8 the following:
“(2) In this Part, Ombudsperson means the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise appointed under Order in Council P.C. 2019-1323 of September 6, 2019.”
Mr. Chair, you won't be surprised to hear me talking about using the ombudsperson in a more effective manner. I have been somebody who has spoken for a very long time about the failure of our ombudsperson to be able to do the job that we have tasked her to do.
We were promised an ombudsperson in 2018. When the ombudsperson was put in place, all abilities of the ombudsperson to hear testimony and to compel testimony and witnesses were stripped from that position. There's very little rationale for that.
I would say that this amendment makes the minister's designated person for the administration and enforcement of the bill the Canadian ombudsperson for responsible enterprise. This position already exists and it needs strengthening. This bill should fall under that purview.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.