Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would like to question the Minister about the latest appointments he made. Once again, I have some problems with them. I am talking about two former Conservative candidates who were appointed citizenship judges. They are Marc Nadeau, a candidate in the 2006 election in Sherbrooke, and Mr. George Khouri, a Conservative candidate in Pickering—Scarborough-East in 2008. We can also add to this the renewed term for Mr. Atkinson, who was an MP in the parliamentary secretary's riding for a number of years and the appointment of Pharès Pierre, John Cryer, Darcy Tkachuk and Cheryl Walker, who are all recognized and recognizable supporters of the Conservative Party.
I understand that there are Conservatives in Canada. There are 75 Conservative candidates in each election in Quebec, but there are also 75 Bloc Québécois candidates, 75 Liberal party candidates, 75 NDP candidates and 75 Green party candidates.
How is it that there are so many former Conservative candidates among your appointments? Would this not be yet more evidence that, despite all your fine words, you and the Liberals are of the same mind when it comes to partisan appointments?