Mr. Speaker, I was not given prior notice of this point of order.
It strikes me as a rather serious challenge by the hon. member that the auditor general should not be independent of government, not be independent of the opinions of the House when he studies the efficiency of the government and the spending of government. Certainly if the auditor general does not have the independence to make suggestions on whether or not governments have acted prudently, we have stripped him of his power and we have stripped him of his reason for being. Therefore I disagree with the hon. member. I think his argument is very weak and should not even be considered in the House.