Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of National Defence.
Two days ago, the President of the Treasury Board came to the rescue of the Minister of National Defence by supporting his decision not to disclose how much General Boyle's generous separation package would be. The minister is hiding behind the Privacy Act. But the act is clear: discretionary benefits are not included in the definition of personal information. For the minister's information, I am referring to subsection 3( l ).
How can the minister stand by what he said when the act, on the one hand, does not recognize discretionary benefits as personal information and, on the other hand, explicitly authorizes the disclosure of any other type of benefit in the public interest? To be more specific, I am referring to subparagraph 8(2)( m )(i).