Mr. Chair, I knew on a personal basis the previous Chief Electoral Officer, Mr. Hamel. I wasn't running then, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Hamel was in the position for probably 15 years at the most. He came from the Quebec elections system. Mr. Kingsley would have been there roughly about 15 years, or 16 or 17 years. I'm not so sure that we do have to put a term on the mandate, in the sense that the government, I don't think, would appoint someone in his early thirties or mid-thirties for such an important mandate, for such an important responsibility.
If we were to put a term of 10 or 12 years, it might keep excellent candidates away from that particular job, because if you were to retire at age 57 or 58, or even 60, it might not necessarily be easy for somebody to reposition themselves on the market. Because we have to realize that this particular person, while in this mandate, is pretty much neutralized--if I can call it that--to just about anything public.
We wouldn't ask of a judge to be appointed for 12 years or 15 years. I'm not sure that we want to limit the term of Elections Canada's director general.