Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Madam Barrados, for coming here this afternoon. We appreciate not only your attendance here but also our time last night. It was informative, and those of us who attended got good value for the time we spent together.
Today I'm going to follow up on the direction Ms. Martha Hall Findlay was moving in some time ago in terms of the non-partisanship of our civil servants. Last night we talked a little about the necessity of ensuring that at least the upper echelon within the civil service has a guard around how much partisan activity they undertake while still serving in that capacity.
Today I read something interesting. I was reading through Quorum and came across a story by Greg Weston, who cited a diplomat who has a Facebook page that mentioned certain political thoughts he has. He has unfortunately probably compromised his negotiating capacity through that Facebook page, as it relates to his responsibility within the foreign service.
I'm sure the advent of the Facebook page has really complicated your life, because it's one opportunity in which, although we think we're engaging in private conversations, we're in fact broadcasting a lot of personal information that may compromise our non-partisanship if we are trying to be non-partisan. Could you talk a little bit about the Facebook reality and how that challenge is changing the way you do your job?
I'd also ask that you talk about any situation in which you've had to speak to departments about making it clear as to the necessity of watching what people put on their Facebook pages as they enter certain levels within the public service.