Certainly.
Mr. Chair, more generally, as noted in the question, the role of the Privy Council Office is really threefold: one, to support the Prime Minister; two, to support cabinet in its decision-making; and three, to provide support for the public service through the Clerk's role as head of the public service. That includes support for appointment processes, both for Governor in Council appointments where decisions are taken by the Governor in Council but we provide and enable support in that process, and as announced and put into practice by the government, the new process for Senate nominations.
The process the government decided to undertake is one whereby there is an independent advisory board, as I noted, that provides recommendations to the Prime Minister. That advisory board has different configurations of membership on a province-by-province basis, with three federal members, chaired by Madame Huguette Labelle, and two members recommended by the province, or nominated by the Government of Canada if the province chooses not to recommend anyone.
In the case of the process that's being completed, they undertake a review of the nominations provided to them. Then, on that basis, they make recommendations to the Prime Minister of five names per vacancy.
The PCO's role, again, is to provide secretariat support for that process, anticipating the permanent phase of a web portal enabling Canadians to indicate their interest in applying.