I'm going to speak, in any case.
We are not here to criticize the nomination. We are here to understand the process that led up to it.
A lot of information has come out since Ms. Meilleur's appointment. The first news that was reported in the media is that someone from the Liberal Party expressly said to Mr. Doucet that he should meet with someone from the Office of the Prime Minister, or someone from the upper echelons, if he wanted to have an opportunity of even being a part of this process. Forgive me, but when a process is supposed to be independent, apolitical, and that someone from the Liberal Party says such a thing... I am glad that Mr. Doucet did not go any further. He showed some decency. He wanted to be recognized for his skills and not for his political affiliation.
That being said, it is up to each of you opposite to see if you can accept that. I can't, because, as Mr. Arseneault said earlier, we have never been partisan in this committee. So if Ms. Meilleur is already affiliated with federal and provincial Liberals, when she comes to testify before the Standing Committee on Official Languages, in whose name will she be speaking? Will she be speaking on behalf of the organizations, or of the government? Will she be asked to go in a certain direction? If people do not want her to say this or that, will she be silenced? That is partisanship, and that is not what we want.
We, the members of the opposition parties, say that there are too many points of association with the federal Liberal Party. The media have been harping on this, and the opposition as well. It is public. We have the names. It is starting to look like collusion. Appearances in politics are the first thing you have to pay attention to, especially when it comes to the positions of officials. We are not talking about an electoral candidate who made a donation to one party or another a year before. We are talking about the process to appoint an officer of the House, who must be apolitical.
When Graham Fraser was appointed, he did not belong to any political party. We had no way of knowing if he ever held a Liberal, NDP or Conservative party card. He had not made any donations to any political party. He had not contributed to any leadership race. During the last provincial election, he did not walk around with the future Prime Minister of Canada. If that is not being close to the Liberals, the appearances are really deceiving in Ms. Meilleur's case.
That is why we need clarifications, and we need to know what really happened with this nomination. The opposition parties are not the only ones who are asking questions; even groups in your area, Mr. Arseneault, are beginning to wonder about the process that took place. Do not tell me that you do not agree, because for once I'm going to say publicly that I don't believe you.
Aside from that, when the spotlight is turned off, we can manage to agree. Today you are talking on behalf of your government, and not on behalf of René Arseneault, Linda Lapointe, Paul Lefebvre, Darrell Samson and Dan Vandal. We have never played politics in this committee. In fact, we should congratulate ourselves on having produced excellent reports, and having set aside our partisanship at all times. This is one of the only committees where that is the case. Sometimes, it wasn't easy.
We exchanged little jibes. But this goes beyond that; it's a huge issue. Moreover, we are now learning that two employees who worked for Ms. Meilleur are now on Ms. Joly's staff.
If there is no appearance of conflict of interest here, I will eat my hat. This is looking worse and worse. That is why we have to shed light on this issue, and the point is not to corner Ms. Meilleur. No one here looked at the other candidates' resumés, I think. We are familiar with Ms. Meilleur's CV, but we don't know the others.
Perhaps the others were just as competent as Ms. Meilleur, but did not have a political allegiance. They were set aside before they even got to the end. The next time, no matter which political party is involved, as Mr. Généreux said, they are going to have to face this type of nomination.
We have to ensure that this becomes apolitical because when Ms. Meilleur will appear here—I'll speak in my own name—I am going to find it hard to believe what she has to say. When she prepares a report, I am going to go and see what you said in the House to see if it shows political influence.
That is why I would like Mr. Choquette's motion to be adopted as is. The process really has to be transparent, because we are the ones who have to work with the Commissioner of Official Languages.