Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Minister, it's always lovely to see you.
My first question goes back to Mr. Christopherson's. In what way do you feel that the appointment of Mr. Johnston is democratic? I received a phone call from you the morning of the announcement, saying that this is who the candidate is. There was no consultation with me or the other parties, as we are hearing now. In fact we didn't even receive a short list.
Again, I think we're all in agreement here that it's not the quality or the integrity of the candidate, but the process. We don't know the process. For us, there was no process.
Perhaps you could expand on how you feel that was a democratic process when none of us were consulted in regard to not only a short list or discussion of candidates beyond that but the selection of the candidate himself. How is that democratic?