Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My comments were largely in relation to the independence that is required by quasi-judicial or regulatory bodies. Obviously, I'm not going to comment on the specific events that have occurred because I have no information other than what has been reported in the press. I prefer to do audits before I make comments on those sorts of things.
Clearly, I think there are questions that arise about the independence of regulatory bodies, how they are to be dealt with, and what the protocol is within government. There would certainly seem to be, at a minimum, a lack of clarity around some of this.
I think many of us, agents of Parliament and others, work very hard to ensure that we have independence and the perception of independence when we carry out our work. My comments were related to that, in that this could affect that.
I think time will tell, going forward--once, perhaps, more facts are known about this particular situation--how regulatory bodies are dealt with.
In my case, I can assure you that I have never felt that there have been any attacks or influence upon the independence of the Office of the Auditor General.