Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of National Defence. The President of the Treasury Board has decided to turn a blind eye to the benefits granted General Boyle. However, specific sections of the Privacy Act clearly provide that the benefits paid to General Boyle on a discretionary basis must be made public and the public interest requires the minister to mention any other benefit granted.
In 1994, the information commissioner said, regarding a similar case involving the golden handshake paid to the Governor of the Bank of Canada, that the rule was simple: whenever anyone gets a gift paid by taxpayers, the public has the right to know about it. Given that the Bank of Canada had to disclose the benefits paid to its governor, why is the minister still trying to circumvent all the rules and hide this information from the public?