Thank you, Madam Chair.
I thank the member for his question.
When I saw the commissioner's advisory opinion, I asked my colleagues in charge of programs in other provinces—be it at the National Assembly of Quebec or in Ontario—whether their legislative assembly had a similar rule. They told me it did not. I thought that was a bit strange because the parliamentary internship programme is very similar to its counterpart at the national assembly. Scholarship recipients work on research projects, travel and study other legislative assemblies.
The biggest portion of interns' work is done in members' offices, but they also work on their research projects. I tried to find out what percentage of their work is done in members' offices, for information. Of course, it is not 100%. So this rule is frankly somewhat difficult to understand. There is no similar rule in other provinces, and it does not apply to interns at provincial legislative assemblies.