Government Operations committee  The secretariat within PCO where I work, the senior personnel secretariat, coordinates and does the staff work for Governor in Council appointments. When it comes to heads of agencies such as the CBC, we run the selection processes. We're the ones who work closely with the agency in question and the department in developing selection criteria, advertising the position, and then, if necessary, hiring a search firm, or sometimes the organization hires a search firm and launches a process.

Government Operations committee  Yes, the operation budget of the secretariat.

Government Operations committee  Yes.

Government Operations committee  We would have to check, madam.

Government Operations committee  We don't evaluate the departments as a whole. We coordinate and closely monitor the implementation of government priorities. As regards the specific question of the sale of buildings, I must check with my colleagues to see who is familiar with that file and where it now stands. We focus on key aspects of the government agenda.

Government Operations committee  The website is a recent innovation. The website was started about a year and a half ago, and it was recently upgraded. It's not yet at Workopolis level. We want to improve it. We want to make it more interactive. We want to make it more attractive. And that's ongoing. Also, we can't run all these selection processes, because the volume is simply too great.

Government Operations committee  Yes. The awareness overall may not be at the level we want it to be, but in terms of the specific areas, within the communities, within the specialized areas, people are aware of it and they know where to apply and where to go. In some cases it is a very small community and word gets around quite quickly.

Government Operations committee  It's chaired by Mr. Ian Glen, with Mr. Duchesneau as CEO.

Government Operations committee  It's the agency that conducts investigations when there are accidents. I assume it's investigating the recent tragedy.

Government Operations committee  It investigates when accidents happen. Ms. Wendy Tadros chairs the organization. I don't know the background. I don't know why it's in the Prime Minister's portfolio. Sometimes it's a historical question, sometimes—

Government Operations committee  It's not standard. It varies enormously, because the nature of the positions varies enormously. There are some that are very specialized, for which we will get maybe four or five applications, and we have to beat the bushes to get them. Sometimes we hire search firms to identify people.

Government Operations committee  I'd like to draw a distinction between the selection process and the appointment process. The minister has the authority to recommend board appointments to cabinet. So these are appointments made by the governor in council, on recommendation by the minister. Mr. Jean-Guy Fleury established the selection process, which could be called the prequalification process.

Government Operations committee  Yes. We then introduced a new process, designed to establish a list of qualified persons. The instruments used remain the same, that is to say a written exam, followed by an interview. Since it is ultimately the minister who recommends the appointments, it is reasonable for a representative of the minister's office to sit on the committee working at the prequalification stage.

Government Operations committee  No. We asked Mr. Harrison to examine the process used at the time, which had been established by Mr. Fleury. What I remember is that Mr. Harrison had concluded that the process was too costly and that all the preselection stages took an enormous amount of time. The changes he proposed were not that significant; they were more in the way of adjustments.

Government Operations committee  Pardon me, I've lost the point of your question.