Merci.
I'm completely convinced that public servants are neutral when it comes to gathering information. Canada is a signatory to the Geneva Convention. That means we've accepted obligations not to refuse people who meet the definition of the convention. The job of a public servant in this regard is to gather information relevant to that decision. The public servant, in my experience, does not have any personal stake or personal opinion with respect to whether that should be a negative or a positive decision with respect to the information that is to be gathered. So I have no hesitation whatsoever in saying that public servants will gather the necessary information so that when it goes to the first-level decision-maker the information is there. And if the first-level decision-maker concludes that the information has been inappropriately collected or reflects a bias of any type, that will be cleared up very quickly.
I say that without any hesitation. Having had experience with adjudicators, having been with the department and so on, I can say they were truly independent beings. When an important decision was to come down and we, as senior executives, would meet, we'd be wondering what in the world would be coming down the line, because we had no idea. And we also knew that it was not our business to interfere.
I have no difficulty with that. And if there are public servants who do that, then the appropriate measures should be taken.