I suggest directing that question more specifically to the president of the NRC. I know he's been asked to testify.
In our discussions with the government about how to get trust restored in clean-tech funding, part of the rationale for selecting the NRC is its very solid business processes. I hope all members agree that IRAP is generally regarded as a very well-run program and is very strongly supported by the business sector.
For the reasons I enumerated in my opening remarks, the NRC is a Crown agency. The individuals are subject to the public service code of ethics. They're subject to postemployment rules. The organization is governed by a council selected directly by the government.
There was a discussion earlier about the member council of SDTC. I will give you this by way of illustration. I completely agree with the Auditor General about the necessity of ISED having stronger oversight of its contribution agreement—there's no quarrel there—but from a legal point of view, ISED and the government have no ability to appoint members to the member council of SDTC. When this organization was set up, there was an initial round of appointments for members of the organization. That was meant to be self-perpetuating: The members appoint new members. The membership was allowed to erode, and there's no legal way for a minister of the Crown to directly remedy that. That is totally different from, for example, the NRC, where if the number of members is allowed to decline, it is directly on the minister responsible. It's the minister's and the governor in council's job to be appointing people to the NRC.
Again, I fully agree with the Auditor General about the necessity of ISED strengthening its oversight. However, from a legal point of view, SDTC is actually quite far removed from the government. Many of the day-to-day decisions and many of the elements of governance are in the hands of the board of directors. That doesn't remove our responsibility, to be perfectly clear, but it creates certain limits and practical issues. Many of those go away by moving the organization under the National Research Council.