Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Standing Order 111(2) reads as follows:
(2) The committee, if it should call an appointee or nominee to appear pursuant to section (1) of this Standing Order, shall examine the qualifications and competence of the appointee or nominee to perform the duties of the post to which he or she has been appointed or nominated.
Naturally, Ms. Meilleur sent us her resume, which she would typically be required to do.
Now we have a new statute, the Language Skills Act, pursuant to which, the individuals appointed to 10 specific offices must meet language requirements. The act stipulates that appointees be able to speak and understand clearly both English and French. The Commissioner of Official languages is one of the positions to which the act applies.
The committee therefore has a duty to examine Ms. Meilleur's qualifications and competence, under Standing Order 111(2). The chair, in fact, addressed the standing order. Consequently, we must assess Ms. Meilleur's qualifications and competence to perform the duties of the post.
We already have her resume, if I'm not mistaken. The clerk can confirm that for us. We should have her resume, but we should also have her language skills qualifications, further to the Language Skills Act requirement. We should examine her language skills.
It's simply a formality, if you ask me, Mr. Chair. We don't question her skills in that regard; it's required by law. It's just a formality.