Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Is it clear in the bill that is the case?

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Perhaps I can come back to the example of a policy conference, whether it's organized by a non-profit group or a consultation exercise organized by the government. If you have a large number of people in the room whose responsibilities include dealing with government, is it the intent of the government that all these individuals be captured by that?

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  My short response would be that there is no one silver bullet that's going to restore public confidence. Confidence and trust, as I said earlier, once lost, can be very hard to restore. It will take time; it will take a number of measures and a lot of dedication. What I'm trying to suggest is that it's important not only to be aware of unintended consequences but also to focus on the purpose of good governance, which comes back to meeting the needs and expectations of citizens and making government as efficient as possible.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  If I may, you raised a number of issues. I want to make it clear that I'm not suggesting that the Federal Accountability Act be watered down. I'm suggesting we make sure it's effective. I'm saying take the time to get it right. Similarly, I don't want to overemphasize the direct comparisons between Sarbanes-Oxley on the corporate side, because it was a U.S. law, and what is going on in terms of public accountability here.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  I think what that illustrates is how difficult it is to regain public trust once it's lost. Certainly that's our experience in the corporate sector, where the fact is that there were real abuses. Those abuses had to be addressed both by legislative and regulatory action, which took place, but also by a much stronger focus on governance issues in the media and a much stronger focus amongst institutional investors at the board of directors level and at the management level.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  I would say that precisely because the issues are complex, it's important to take the time to get it right. I don't dispute the urgency of addressing the concerns the public has, but again I draw on our experience with the issue of corporate governance. The fact is that legislators in the United States, in the spring of 2002, were under a great deal of public pressure to act quickly, so when they went back to their constituencies in the summertime and talked to their constituents they would have an answer when asked what they were doing about Enron.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  I think I've made our feelings clear. Because this is important, it's important to get it right. Given the complexity of the issues that are being addressed and some of the mechanisms that have been put on table but not fleshed out, I would certainly encourage this committee to take as much time as it felt productive to deal with any of the question marks or uncertainties that may be raised.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  If I may, Mr. Chair, the concern isn't so much about what's said, but about a lack of certainty concerning what's there and what it means. The issue of reporting requirements has been raised. Again, I don't look at that primarily from the viewpoint of transactional work, because we don't do that; we deal strictly in the public policy sphere.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the opportunity to come and join you today. This is a very complex piece of legislation, but it's one that's very important as well. The members of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, for those who aren't familiar, are basically CEOs of large companies operating in Canada.

Industry committee  Let me try to deal briefly with Mr. Carrie's question with respect to labour mobility and what we can do to help people who may lose their jobs in one part of the country move to another part. I think there are two paths to it. One is the enabling part, and that tends to be the interprovincial thing: is the tradesperson qualified, are their credentials recognized, do they have the ability to move to where the jobs are from where they happen to be right now?

Industry committee  Mr. Chairman, I have a brief comment in terms of entrepreneurship. I want to make a point that entrepreneurship isn't just a career that's in private sector; I think entrepreneurship is an attitude, and it's just as important for Canada to have creative or innovative entrepreneurial people working in public services as it is for them to be out running businesses.

Industry committee  Yes, that's what I'm saying.

Industry committee  Yes, that comes back to social attitudes and the question of whether our communities welcome entrepreneurship as an activity or a calling. Do we welcome creative people, no matter where they work? Do we welcome creative people in our communities, even if they get rich doing it? Or do we only welcome them if they work in the public sector?

Industry committee  I've lost count of how many inquiries there have been into the competitiveness of gasoline pricing in this country. Not one of them has ever come up with a suggestion that there's a problem, at the end of the day, so I don't see much point.

Industry committee  I agree. The rules are there, both multilateral rules and Canadian rules. It's a question of how rigorously we try to enforce them. Another point that flows from Mr. Myers' comments is that it reinforces the importance of our not only protecting, as Canadians, our own borders and the health and safety of Canadians by enforcing our own standards, but also doing so in the context of our North American relationship.