Thank you, Ms. Thibault.
Madam Chair, diversity and representativeness were key considerations in all of our discussions on the code of practice. Certain elements must be included because of the act, but, as you said, we must also take into account the representation of the regions, etc., of Canada.
I hope that these factors will play an important role in future appointments. The fact that these appointments are made by the governor in council provides ministers with the necessary flexibility to consider a list of competent individuals and use their best judgment to meet the objectives that you have listed.
You also mentioned boards of directors. For some time now there has been an attempt to define what qualifications are required. We were studying that for the clerk. It is obvious that in the case of a crown corporation's board of directors, depending on the field of activity and its objectives, you would require experienced people such as lawyers or engineers, people from eastern or western Canada, francophones, etc. We came up with an idea that was implemented some time ago by the Privy Council Office; it involved a structure based on qualifications. Therefore, when a position becomes vacant on a board of directors, the first question is the following one. In view of the type of activity in which this organization is involved, what type of skill do we require? That helped to define the type of selection process that should apply.
Take, for example, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. Sometimes, we need someone who is so specialized that there might be only two or three candidates in all of Canada, or even in the world. It is not quite the same as looking for someone who has business experience. In this case, a candidate's name would be considered by the board of directors, by taking into account those who are already there and what the shareholder had in mind.