Madam Speaker, while the member describes a consultation process with the provinces, the ultimate decision in terms of these appointments comes from the PMO.
The member for LaSalle—Émard, as a born again ethicist, yesterday introduced a series of proposals in which he described the unbridled power of the PMO, the evil force of darkness from the PMO, and its impact on the appointment process and on individual members of Parliament, particularly on that side of the House.
I am not certain what his future plans are in terms of who he is supporting for the leadership of his party but I would argue that this born again ethicist, the member for LaSalle—Émard, based not on his track record but on his most recent utterances, would be closer to agreeing with me than agreeing with the hon. member that there would need to be a greater level of not just consultation with provinces but parliamentary and committee consultation and ultimately approval of appointments.
It has been some time since we reviewed the appointments to this board, but there was a strong correlation on this board between contributions to the Liberal Party and Liberal Party affiliations in a general sense and appointments to this board. That is not the case for the entire board. In fact, quite specifically, John MacNaughton, who is head of this board, is to my knowledge a non-partisan and an extremely qualified pension manager and investment executive with a great deal of experience.
That being the case, I am sure that in his heart of hearts Mr. MacNaughton would rather the Liberals appoint his colleagues on that board not based on their partisan affiliations but on their true expertise and qualifications as pension and investment executives. Canadians would be far better served by that, while I suggest perhaps the hon. member and his party might not be quite as well served in the short term.