That's fine. I deviated a little bit. I'll go back to my point. I will accept that point of order, Madam Chair.
I'll return to my point, Madam Chair:
Witnesses testifying before Parliamentary committees are expected to answer all questions put by the committee. However, additional considerations come to bear in the case of public servants, since they appear on behalf of the Minister.
They appear on behalf of the minister. I want to make that clear.
Public servants have a general duty, as well as a specific legal responsibility, to hold in confidence the information that may come into their possession in the course of their duties. This duty and responsibility are exercised within the framework of the law, including in particular any obligations of the Government to disclose information to the public under the Access to Information Act or to protect it from disclosure under other statutes such as the Privacy Act.
These are the directives of your House. They have been honoured by successive governments over time.
I could go on and on; I could go into the swearing, but everyone can read here.
I would suggest that you take a serious look at this document. In closing, what I will do is cut out a number of pages and just simply go to a section called “Guidance to Officials”, about who will appear before this committee.