I don't think it's appropriate for there to be political meddling in this process, the way this motion suggests.... There are appointments for port authorities, airport authorities, and organizations of this type all across the country on a regular basis. If we transform this committee into a vetting process for every single one of those appointments, we'll never be able to study anything else.
We make all of our appointments based on merit and we are always accountable at election time to the people in the respective communities where those appointments are made. Frankly, I think we've done a pretty good job. We have very successful port and airport authorities right across this country.
I look at Ottawa, for example, where we've made appointments now for six years, in partnership with the city, and at what an amazing success story it is. The Ottawa International Airport was just recognized as I think the best airport in the range of two million to five million passenger visits per year. Obviously we have to give credit to the CEO, Paul Benoit, to the employees who commit their days and nights to running the operation there, and to the users. But at the same time, you can't deny that the board of directors, which is partially appointed by the federal government, has had some role in bringing about that success.
So we have a good record of choosing qualified people who oversee these authorities and run them successfully, and, I might add, in most cases on a not-for-loss basis, so at little to no cost to taxpayers.
I think to distract the committee from its important work in order to become a vetting house—or worse yet, a witch hunt—to bring honourable and qualified Canadians before this committee would be a terrible distraction.
Thank you.