Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Friday, I do appreciate your attending this morning. We certainly appreciate this opportunity.
Unlike Mr. Ravignat, I can guarantee that there would be no reference to the House had this hearing not happened, and so we appreciate all parties' efforts to make this happen so that this nomination can proceed to the House in due course. We do appreciate your coming here, Mr. Friday, and your explanations as to why you were unavailable the other day.
We know that the office to which you are being called is one that's a high priority for our government. We believe strongly in the office, obviously. We have undertaken to see the legislation and to see the office created. We believe it plays an important role in terms of transparency and accountability for all Canadians.
There is a real sense that communication is important when somebody's coming to your office, obviously. You've talked a little bit about the necessity that somebody who's coming to your office knows what to expect. I think there are sometimes reservations in going to any office if there isn't a real sense as to what they can expect once they go.
There seems to be maybe a little bit of misunderstanding about what your office can do versus a resolution that could be undertaken through the Treasury Board process or through even possibly a union resolution process.
Could you explain briefly how you see your role as different from some of the other resolution processes, the office that you hold, and how you can better explain it to people in the civil service who might be looking for a resolution to a concern they do have?