I appointed Mr. Ellis. In the Canadian legal community, Mr. Ellis has a good reputation—you are correct—and he always makes good speeches and has good arguments. I believe that no one is more qualified than he is in the area of tribunals. I had a lot of respect for him. I asked him to join our tribunal when we lost a member for health reasons. He did so willingly. His contribution was outstanding. I don't remember the number of panels in which he took part, but I am sure that it was at least three. I called on him as a personal advisor regarding the operation of a tribunal. Perhaps you will recall that a contract was awarded to do a study on asylum hearings conducted by videoconference. Mr. Ellis had that contract. That shows that he is an extremely conscientious person who felt that his work on renewals was not moving forward. There was also the recruitment issue, but, if you read the resignation letter that he sent to the minister of the time, you'll see that his major concern was that his recommendations concerning renewals had not been followed.
On April 24th, 2007. See this statement in context.