Thank you very much.
I just want to talk a little bit about openness and transparency and being an independent committee.
The common thread we saw when we went across the country was around having an elected chair. It is around transparency and around openness. With a chair already picked back in January, that doesn't instill any openness or transparency or confidence, frankly.
I do want to come back to a couple of points within the context of the bill. So the committee reports to the Prime Minister. The appointments are recommended by the Prime Minister. The chair is appointed by the Prime Minister.
Ms. Chagger, you said, “How any redactions are done is decided by the committee itself and not the Prime Minister.” Well, this is in direct conflict with the bill as it's written in subclause 21(5), where it says that after consulting with the chair, the Prime Minister, if he is of an opinion...he directs the committee to change the report.
I'd like to get your comments on how that's transparent, how that's open, how that instills confidence with the general public, and how that is empowering parliamentarians.