Thank you, Chair.
Certainly I extend a warm welcome to our guests. I can tell you it's been a privilege to work with you over a number of years now. I look forward to continuing to assess, work together, and provide both of our efforts for a much better future. You do great work, and we thank you for that.
Might I say that I've served on this committee for a number of years? I almost hate to bring up another word but I'm going to. I've actually served on this committee since the dear old sponsorship scandal, which was winding down at that point. I know some opposition members have tried to draw a comparison between the two, which I find a little bit disconcerting in a way. We all know that in the sponsorship affair we didn't know how much was involved, to whom the money went, what it was for, where it went, and what it was. There were numerous legal convictions, and for all intents and purposes, there are more to come.
I've noticed that you said in your statement last June that this is just not a sponsorship scandal.
Can you please highlight the differences between what we have here with this examination versus the impropriety of the sponsorship affair?