Mr. Speaker, what is critical is that our motion today deals with simply the officers of Parliament. I am concerned as well with all appointments. Pro forma, other appointments are to be referred to a committee, but with a majority Liberal government I do not think that, so far, my committee has reviewed a single appointment, which is what we are supposed to be doing as parliamentarians.
We are talking about officers of Parliament, which include the Auditor General, and under pressure the government finally agreed to make the parliamentary budget officer also an officer of Parliament. These are officers who advise everyone in this House. Every member of Parliament, including all of the Liberal members, is accountable for holding the government accountable for spending. Does the member not agree that it is absolutely critical that we have independent, qualified analysis so that we can deliver one of our most critical roles, which is to hold the government accountable on spending?