I make a distinction between external trust in the agency and its products, among the principal users, the organizations that rely upon it, but also Canadians in general. There was a bit of damage to the image and reputation of Statistics Canada in the outside world as a result of the events of 2011, and that will take time to fully restore, but most Canadians aren't that well informed about the role of Statistics Canada.
However, there's another level of trust, and that's internally. We've relied in the past on these unwritten conventions and informal understandings on how the relationship between the government and the agency should operate, between the minister and the chief statistician. Trust was harmed by the events of 2011. That will be more codified and formalized in this bill.
Trust is an elusive phenomenon. It's difficult to develop, it takes time, it can be quickly lost, and it's difficult to restore. Now we'll have a new set of more formal working relationships, and I think that's where we should be at this time in the 21st century.