I appreciate what you're saying. I would just say that I believe, in the nine years that I've been both a member and chair of SIRC, that I've conducted myself in a totally non-partisan vein.
I'm sure that members know that I was appointed to the committee by the Liberal government of Mr. Chrétien, that I was appointed chair by the Liberal government of Mr. Martin, and that we have people of many different political persuasions on the committee. It's always been a multi-party, non-partisan committee.
We take our responsibilities very seriously, and I would say to you that we regard our relationship as being one in which we're protecting the best interests of all Canadians in our examination of service. In so doing, we have to be as independent as we possibly can, both from them and from any other motivation. Along the way, from time to time, regrettably, it's been our responsibility to find fault with them. Having said that, we don't in any way judge poorly their motivation or their professionalism. It's just like any organization. From time to time they have made mistakes, in our judgment, and we've pointed that out in our reviews and in our annual reports.
That having been said, I believe it is fair to say as well that over time they've become more professional and better able to do their work, so that if you believe in continuous improvement, they probably are a good example of people who have striven to get better and better at what they do, and I think they're recognized for that.
That doesn't make our job any easier, because it means we still have to be very alert to the fact that it's a human service and from time to time mistakes are made.