—but I will state it on the record. I think it's a problem that whips' office staff, on both sides, are present to direct members of Parliament. I'll go on the record to say that, and I will defend that publicly.
I do think it's a problem in our parliamentary committees that the whips' offices in all parties direct members of Parliament on these committees to do things all the time. I think it detracts from our ability to provide our oversight function as a committee. That's why I've long believed that the whips' offices should not be directing members of Parliament, regardless of which side of the aisle they sit on.
I also believe that it's long time that the leaders' offices and whips' offices no longer decide who gets appointed to these parliamentary committees. I think it should be a secret ballot vote so that these committees could be more autonomous and can better execute their parliamentary function in holding government departments and agencies to account.