Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, since we are talking about the importance of expertise and experience, and because I have already given many explanations regarding the process, I would like to talk about Madame Meilleur's participation in associations and organizations. She has been a member of the Association of French-Speaking Jurists of Ontario.

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, we are very proud to have found a very good candidate, because when searching for candidates to become the commissioner of official languages, we wanted to find the best one. This is exactly what our process allowed us to do. Based on a short list I received, I had the opportunity to conduct interviews and then appreciate Mrs.

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to hear my colleague talk about Mrs. Meilleur because, when I had the chance to speak with her on the phone to tell her that Mrs. Meilleur would potentially be a candidate we would select, she told me that Madeleine Meilleur was indeed a good candidate and that she had the necessary experience and qualifications.

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, of course, as I have said many times, the discussion about Mrs. Meilleur becoming commissioner of official languages never took place. I would like to remind members of the important awards that Mrs. Meilleur was able to gather during her amazing career, including something that the Conservative Party will actually like a lot, which is the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, I will continue. As I was saying, she received the Order of Merit from the Association of French-Speaking Jurists of Ontario in 2007. She was admitted into the Ordre de la francophonie de Prescott et Russell in 2006. She also received the Réseau socioaction des femmes francophones award of excellence in 2002.

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, I am glad to see that my colleague recognizes that she received many awards. Not only that, the fact that she won so many awards is based on the fact that she has had lots of accomplishments in her public life. That leads us to the question of the importance of giving importance to public servants.

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, we are very proud of the process that we have put in place. I am also proud of the fact that I have been able to put together a very strong team that of course assists me in my responsibilities and duties. These individuals have experience and expertise in the area of official languages.

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, first, I would like to point out that my colleague acknowledged many times in the past that Mrs. Meilleur was an excellent candidate with experience and expertise, and I thank him for that. Of course, I would like to reassure him by saying that we held an open, independent, and merit-based process.

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, since Madame Meilleur has been such an important person in the protection and promotion of official languages rights in this country, including the protection of the Montfort Hospital and the creation of the francophone affairs commission in Ontario, I wanted to talk about the awards and recognition she has had, including the fact that she received the Order of Merit of the University of Ottawa, the Bastarache-Charron award for the common law section of the University of Ottawa.

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, after a long, and clearly merit-based process, we chose Mrs. Meilleur as the candidate for commissioner of official languages. A selection committee consisting of mostly public servants established this process and reviewed the different candidates. Every measure was put in place to ensure that employees who had contacts with Mrs.

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned many times in the House, we are extremely proud of our candidate for official languages commissioner, because she has the experience and also has the expertise to make sure that she will be a good official languages commissioner. I am proud of my team.

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, I am glad to see that the member is recognizing, finally, the expertise and experience of Mrs. Meilleur, because this is exactly why we decided to appoint her. It was because she actually has the knowledge and experience to make sure she would be a good official languages commissioner.

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, I mentioned many times that Mrs. Meilleur is an amazing candidate because she had the chance to serve 30 years in supporting the promotion and protection of official language rights in our country. Of course I would like to be precise in the fact that never was there any discussion relating to the fact that she could become the official languages commissioner.

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, the position of the opposition is strange. If the opposition members condemn Mrs. Meilleur for having been involved in the public service for 30 years, would they equally condemn the fact that the former Conservative prime minister, Kim Campbell, was in charge of her nomination process for the Supreme Court?

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, we found an excellent candidate, Madeleine Meilleur, who was very involved in protecting Ottawa’s francophone hospital, the Montfort Hospital. She also created within the Ontario government the position of French-language services commissioner, which is the equivalent of the commissioner of official languages.