Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Canadian Heritage.
The government does not seem to be troubled at all about giving $350,000 to the National Arts Centre's director general, after he was fired following a putsch organized by the Mayor of Ottawa. The Minister of Canadian Heritage is washing his hands of the whole affair by invoking the management autonomy of the federal agency.
Does the minister recognize that it is up to the government to determine the working conditions of crown corporation directors, including severance pay, and that in this instance it is the inordinate amount of this severance pay that we find outrageous, just a few hours before a general tax increase for all Canadians?