Mr. Speaker, the hon. member brings up a good point. My Progressive Conservative colleague from Cumberland--Colchester raised the fact that if people want a job on the Hill for example, they have to live within a certain radius of the Hill. These are federal taxpayers' dollars. Any Canadian who qualifies for a position should be able to send in his or her resume. No minister or department should have the power over that to freeze people out of the hiring process. The best person through the resume and interview process should be hired for the job and not appointed because of who that person knows in the PMO.
In the House of Commons on October 29th, 2002. See this statement in context.