Mr. Speaker, it is very interesting that the member for Mississauga South just berated the other member for engaging in rhetoric. I do not suppose all that millenarian stuff has anything rhetorical about it.
The member said the changes which the government seeks could not be achieved without becoming an agency. It is rather circular thinking to stay it cannot become an agency without becoming an agency. I do not deny that but I what I do deny is that we could not make the personnel management policies more flexible without becoming an agency. The Library of Parliament says so, the public policy forum says so, the Canadian Tax Foundation says so. The government has presented no evidence to say it could not amend Treasury Board guidelines and the public service governing legislation to allow them to employ people on a more flexible basis as needed.
Does he not believe that with a board and a commissioner between ourselves and the agency's day to day activities accountability could and potentially will be diminished under the new agency?