Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, she did public service for 30 years and has been involved in the protection and promotion of official languages. She went through the entire process. Many candidates also participated in the process, and ultimately, she was the best—

Government Appointments  I would like to set the record straight, Mr. Speaker. I said that Mrs. Telford and Mr. Butts did not discuss the nomination of Madeleine Meilleur or her wanting to be the official languages commissioner, and that is an important fact. That being said, we have the right candidate.

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind everyone that the process is important here. The process is about getting the best candidates possible, and there were 72 of them. There was a selection committee made up mostly of public servants, all of whom had an equal say. Then an independent firm put together a short list of 12 candidates.

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, I would like to clarify that Ms. Telford and Mr. Butts never discussed with Ms. Meilleur the possibility that she could become the Commissioner of Official Languages. That was never discussed. Furthermore—

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, we had a thorough process and 10 candidates passed the tests. We checked their references and I then personally interviewed the candidates and saw that Madeleine Meilleur was the best candidate. I then spoke with the Conservative and NDP critics, who both recognized Mrs.

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind my colleagues that in the context of this nomination, we wanted to find the perfect candidate. That person needed to have experience and expertise in the context of defending official languages in our communities and country. Since we are a government that values the importance of bilingualism and official languages, of course we did a thorough and very merit-based process.

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, in line with the question that my colleague asked earlier, I would like to remind him that committees of the House are independent—

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, I would therefore like to stress the experience and the expertise of Madame Meilleur. She has been involved in the protection of the Montfort Hospital and the creation of the Office of the French Language Services Commissioner. She has been involved in the protection and promotion of official languages for 30 years.

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, we promised to find the best person to be the official languages commissioner, and that is exactly what we did. Mrs. Meilleur has been recognized for her skills, experience, strength, professionalism, and integrity throughout her career. The work she has done for language rights in Canada is some of the best work that has been done over the past 30 years.

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity to explain the process for appointing Mrs. Meilleur over the past few weeks, and the process is clear. Seventy-two candidates applied; 12 individuals were interviewed; then 10 individuals took tests and went through reference checks; and lastly, I had a chance to interview a shortlist of candidates.

Canadian Heritage  Mr. Speaker, I would like to reassure my colleague that my department did not fund this duck. I would like to tell her what we have funded, because of course, in the context of our reconciliation efforts with indigenous people, we supported the Redpath Waterfront Festival in funding the Rhythm of the Nation performance component of the Ontario 150 Tour.

Canadian Heritage  Mr. Speaker—

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, as an agent of the government, of course the official languages commissioner will be accountable to Parliament. We never questioned that. What we were in charge of was making sure that we would find the right candidate with the right expertise and the right competence to make sure, ultimately, that she would be an important watchdog of the government.

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, I have risen several times in the House to point out that we were committed to finding the best candidate for the position of Commissioner of Official Languages. This is exactly what we were able to do. How were we able to do it? We were able to do it through a merit-based process.

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, I am surprised by my colleague’s reaction, because she herself acknowledged Madeleine Meilleur’s experience and expertise. Why? Because Ms. Meilleur is a language rights pioneer. I would like to go over her career. For 30 years she has fought for francophone rights and services.