Mr. Speaker, the minister has the authority to call for a special investigation by a third-party accounting firm, not the existing auditors, to come in. That is the request of the chair of the board, who was appointed by the transport minister. The transport minister is authorized under section 41(1) of the Canada Marine act.
This has nothing to do now with the Ethics Commissioner or with the Minister of Natural Resources. It has to do with the chairman of the board of directors saying, “We have a problem. We need somebody to look into it to clear the air. We need to be able to do our work, but there is a cloud hanging over our head. It is interfering with our ability to do our jobs”.
The minister has the tools. There is nothing the Ethics Commissioner can do to help him. He can go in and take responsibility for this, get someone to give him the information and determine what solutions there may be so we do not have a dysfunctional Toronto Port Authority.