Thank you very much for the update, Chair.
In my experiences here in the House--I've been here since 2004--I've never encountered this type of behaviour from any witness. This is a serious matter. We've discussed this issue on many occasions. I, personally, find this to be completely unacceptable.
The commission was set up to improve accountability and integrity. It's very simple, very straightforward. It took three long years to set up this commission, as I indicated before: $11 million, 228 complaints, and no action
And what are we left with? What are we dealing with today? We're dealing with a commission that's in crisis. We're dealing with a commission that's trying to clean up the mess of Ms. Ouimet. To validate that, the Auditor General's report clearly indicated that her conduct was inappropriate and unacceptable. That's the issue here. From my point of view—and many members will share this—we want her to come before the committee.
We as a committee have a responsibility to deal with this issue. It's not government operations, it's not ethics, it's our committee. We work very closely, hand in glove, with the Auditor General's office. We've been dealing with this issue since December 9, and according to my records here—I could be corrected—we've dealt with this issue six times in committee. Six times we've tried to figure out how to get Ms. Ouimet here.
We've sent her calls and letters. We've even summonsed her. Now we have Mr. Walsh and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner here today. We're doing everything in our capacity.
In my opinion, this has dragged on way too long. We don't negotiate with lawyers. This is the first time I've heard of this—trying to negotiate with lawyers. We don't negotiate with lawyers.
You say that she's in Florida. But if she's dealing with a lawyer, then, according to my opinion, she's received a summons. She's aware that we're trying to get her to come before committee. It's very simple: if you've hired legal counsel, there's a recognition that we're trying to make an effort to get her here—not once, not twice, not three times; we have taken every possible avenue available to us.
Enough is enough. I think we need to take action and report this to the House.