I appreciate that, Mr. Bains.
One of the issues that we found with Mr. Noseworthy is that he didn't know what his job was. What kind of boss—in this case, the minister—would have an employee, a very senior executive employee, an assistant deputy minister, who the Auditor General had to, unfortunately, describe as someone who didn't know their job—or their roles or responsibilities, to be exact—in relation to the fact that this person, one of your staff members, was present in the decision-making process of a board of two people who ended up giving themselves millions of dollars? That's a serious concern, Mr. Bains, and it's one that Canadians are upset about. It's harmed the very real and legitimate policy of ensuring that Canadians get access to innovation funding for small and medium-sized businesses.
I'd encourage my colleagues to take this issue far more seriously than we have today, because there's a very likely fact, which is that Mr. Andrew Noseworthy knew that he was likely going to find himself in a position where he had to report to you, as the minister responsible, for what he had heard at the two-person board meeting he was at.
At any point in time, do you think he was ever going to question whether or not you would ask him what his roles and responsibilities were?