As I told you earlier when I arrived, thank you for being here, Ms. Nadeau, Mr. Bennett and Mr. Neville. This meeting is further to, among other things, a previous meeting to which the committee — I say “the committee” on its behalf, because not all colleagues here present had the pleasure of being part of it at that time — had invited the former President and CEO to come and testify about certain situations prevailing at the time, and I will obviously only be talking about one.
I'm particularly interested in the entire governance issue. What attracted my attention at that time was the way in which the former President and CEO had, in that capacity, amended the administrative rules and policies. I think he may have done it in order to put himself and his teammates in a better position. In my view, it's not because a Crown corporation is managed for the purpose of making profits that it should be said it operates like in the private sector, that one shouldn't deprive oneself of taking a jet, travelling first class and putting on a banquet. No one is stupid. We understand that you have to do business, but doing business doesn't always mean saying that you should do it in the most costly manner possible. I think it's always the taxpayers who are the providers and the shareholders. That really struck me because that person's conditions of employment were set out in a proper signed contract and so on. I'm allergic to the idea of going so far as to pay for a car for him, or nearly so. I think we should be reasonable.
Since you took up your position, have you preserved the same policies or do you have administrative policies concerning, for example, travelling expenses, entertainment expenses, membership fees? It always fascinates me that people get reimbursed for golf club dues because, unless you're a pro... When I play golf, my ball is here and that of the company president is there. It's hard to talk to each other before supper or cocktail hour. I don't agree with the idea that you're necessarily doing business because you're together on a golf course or at a private club. Have you taken any governance initiatives to tighten policies so that as few expenses as possible are incurred in those areas? That's my first question.