Mr. Speaker, I have to say I am astonished at the claim that the appointment of Madeleine Meilleur went well. All of us in the opposition benches are in awe of the breadth of—I am searching for a word, and “chutzpah” comes to mind—the chutzpah of the claim that this was an example of things going well.
For poor Madeleine Meilleur, her reputation in the course of all this was not served well. The partisanship of the appointment drew gasps from non-partisan observers of parliamentary appointments. It certainly should not be the case that someone who has had some involvement with a political party is forever not allowed to take a position of trust in a non-partisan sense, but going from Graham Fraser, who had no suggestion of partisanship about his appointment, to Madeleine Meilleur was a disservice to her and to the process.
I wonder if the hon. member could think of a process that might have gone better for the Commissioner of Official Languages.