I can tell you there are none, and this is a huge problem.
I'll end with this, Mr. Chair. This is an ongoing issue, and it's not the first time. We saw the same thing even with the Auditor General. There is a minuscule, if any, involvement by the opposition members, and this is completely wrong, in my opinion.
I just state for the record that we need to be making some dramatic changes. I can understand the government leading the process. They are the ones with access to the money in order to hire headhunters and to facilitate the process. However, to completely carve out the opposition members from any kind of meaningful role, to me, is the opposite. It should be an equal all-party process. That's the way we hired the sergeant-at-arms at Queen's Park, and it worked very well. That sergeant-at-arms was seen as everybody's sergeant-at-arms.
For the record, I believe that this is not a fulsome reflection of democracy when we are hiring officers of Parliament who are accountable to all of us. Right now the exclusive domain of hiring is in the hands of the government. The only role the rest of Parliament gets to play is to have a vote saying “yes” or “no”, “we agree with the entire process that the government has completely controlled“. That's just one of those things that bug me.
I'll end where most of my colleagues started, and that is to say, I'm thrilled with your appointment. This role, I can't imagine anyone stepping into Rob Walsh's shoes, but I think you have the best chance of anyone I've seen. I wish you all the best, and I do hope you can live up to the standard Mr. Walsh set, which was, to me, the gold standard of what we look for from a parliamentary law clerk.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.