Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I believe this is the clause that speaks to both municipal employees and provincial employees. Is that correct? I see Mr. Strahl is nodding.
I represent a region where we have very significant ports surrounded by very small communities or smaller municipalities. It's a situation in which a considerable portion of the population works either for the provincial government or for the municipal government. When you're looking for qualified board members who are able to make that contribution, and have the background and professionalism required for such a position, it's not a huge pool when it comes to local voices for those roles. I think that might be the spirit in which this clause was brought forward by the government: They want to ensure people aren't prevented from filling those roles in their home community when no conflict exists.
I've looked through some of the conflict of interest provisions that are part of the letters patent, and they're fairly strong. We had this conversation when it came to the appointment of labour representatives on ports and looking at what stipulations already exist to prevent conflicts of interest.
If you're a provincial employee and you work for a ministry that has no association with port activities or the marine transportation sector, I feel that shouldn't be a disqualifying factor. I would hope that.... I think Mr. Strahl raises the important question: Where conflicts clearly exist, we don't want people to be put in those positions, but it seems that right now the rules cast that net too broadly and prevent a significant number of people from filling those vacancies.