Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I'm going to take a slightly different tack from my predecessor, because I think any institution that has 5,000 people and takes 2.5 million decisions a year will occasionally get people who act improperly. I don't think there are very many, but I acknowledge your point.
A case in point is the individual you referred to elliptically in southern Ontario, who I do know about. The person has been sent home without pay. There's a police investigation, and if I have my way and the facts are sustained, I'll fire him. If you bring any other case of that nature to my attention, I'll cause it to be inquired and I'll fire the individual.
We do not want to support racism. It is not acceptable to this department. I don't think there are very many who do act that way, but I acknowledge that in a large number of people you're always bound to get a few rotten eggs. I think we found one.
On the broader issue of to whom you can speak, a number of your colleagues around the table have called my office, and in a couple of cases I've reversed decisions by the department. I don't do it all the time. There's a branch in the department called the case management branch run by a gentleman called Stéphane Larue, who I think is very open to talking to people. If you want, I'll tell him that you might call him. I'm not just making this offer to appear to be helpful; I mean it. If you have a particular problem and the department can't help you with a case or two, I'd be glad to talk to you myself.