Allow me to interrupt you, because I've been waiting for a chance to jump in.
Since you mentioned that issue, and you talked about a long evolution, permit me to point out that the recommendation I made about the accountability of deputy ministers echoed almost word for word a recommendation made in 1978 by the Lambert commission. It has been repeatedly recommended to the government that this system change. It is almost unique in the western world that the deputy ministers never have to answer a question. They speak only for their minister. They never speak for themselves.
I thought that since this issue had been cooking since 1978, maybe it was time for it to be addressed, and I recommended that a certain accountability be required of deputy ministers. The people who wrote to the government and protested against this recommendation all came from the same constituency. So it wasn't unexpected that the recommendation wouldn't be acted upon. It has been consistently recommended to Canadian governments for 30 years. I guess it was too much to hope that they would now get around to dealing with it. I wasn't disappointed, except that once again the issue was dismissed without debate.