Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. MacDonald and Mr. Utano, I want to drill down on the mechanics of the internal investigation.
I assume that you're familiar with Mr. Lafleur's testimony here on February 5. He's conducting the internal investigation.
He confirmed in his response to my questions that he is not an independent investigator and that he's not able to act independently. He's subject to the internal chain of command at the CBSA. I emphasized at the time that I thought this was a deeply flawed process. Determinations of accountability require a proper external investigation in which powerful people, CBSA leadership and politicians, can be held accountable.
The RCMP is investigating, but we also need to identify wrongdoing that falls short of criminal behaviour.
Why do you think the government is pursuing this internal investigation instead of an independent investigation into who is responsible?