Thank you, Madam Chair. I will be sharing my time with my colleague, madam Faille.
Mr. Gomery, for you personal information, according to the Library of Parliament researchers — and these people are rarely wrong — of the 19 recommendations, only seven have been implemented or partially implemented, if that is of some comfort to you.
Secondly, it is very difficult for parliamentarians, as well as for the reporters who are here, as a matter of fact, to obtain information. My colleague mentioned this earlier. Yes, there is here a culture of secrecy, smokescreens and non-transparency. We would have expected that the Federal Accountability Act would have allowed for a greater flow of information, would have allowed people to be aware of what is going on and would have allowed Canadian and Quebec citizens to know what is being done with their money.
That being said, in the Mulroney-Schreiber affair, the government wishes to set a very restrictive mandate for the commissioner who will be in charge of the inquiry. In your case, I would like to know, briefly, what happened exactly. Was your mandate very restrictive or broad? Were you able to negotiate it? Is it important to have a broad mandate, granting you full liberty, for example, to explore those clues that you consider to be important? Finally, would you recommend that the government appoint the commissioner before setting out the commission's mandate?