National Defence committee  The ombudsman did not share any information with the Privy Council Office.

National Defence committee  And he took the stand that it was none of PCO's business.

National Defence committee  Our judgment in mid-March was that we had reached an impasse. There was no complainant to interview, no witnesses to interview, and it would have been inappropriate to confront General Vance. There was no path forward.

National Defence committee  No, there would have been complainants to interview and witnesses to interview.

National Defence committee  Yes, because the conduct issues did not cycle into the performance rating discussion for 2017-18. The raise that was given in the spring of 2019 was the economic increase. It was three years of catch-up for inflation. Every single Governor in Council appointee in the Government of Canada got a raise in the spring of 2019.

National Defence committee  Not to my knowledge. I think that the impasse was created, in good faith, by Mr. Walbourne's unwillingness to share any information with us and by the complainant's unwillingness to trust the process, as Mr. Lick.... I think that Mr. Walbourne was acting in good faith. The minister was acting in good faith, and we were acting in good faith, but it created an impasse.

National Defence committee  I was certainly not aware of any at the time. I know that other things have been suggested to this committee, and I think you'll have to look at whether in your report you want to.... There are other scenarios and other paths perhaps that could have been taken by Mr. Walbourne, by the complainant, by Minister Sajjan and by the Privy Council Office.

National Defence committee  Yes.

National Defence committee  Those are questions probably better put to Janine, in terms of how you would go about fact-finding. We would have information about each person who was a GIC appointee because of their nomination, selection and appointment process. We wouldn't keep a running file on everything that they were up to.

National Defence committee  The Privy Council Office is the Prime Minister's department. It's part of the executive branch of government. It is the Prime Minister's department, and the Prime Minister is the minister, just like any other department, and the Clerk is the deputy minister, just like any other department.

National Defence committee  The appointment is the recommendation of the Minister of Defence to the Prime Minister, and the Prime Minister would agree or not to the recommended appointment. Minister Kenney recommended the appointment to Prime Minister Harper, and then subsequent issues about his promotion and tenure would have been decisions recommended by Minister Sajjan to Prime Minister Trudeau.

National Defence committee  Yes.

National Defence committee  Every minister is responsible for the portfolios for which they're answerable to Parliament.

National Defence committee  This was the cycle of the 2017-18 performance year. Performance works on an April 1 to March 31 year, give or take a bit of leeway at either end of the year. As I think Ms. Sherman tried to explain, we always seek the input of ministers to provide a recommended rating. It's true that ministers don't set the pay, but they do provide input on the rating.

National Defence committee  If I understand the question, yes, I do think Ms. Sherman did what was appropriate during the period between March 2 and March 16 and pursued the route that was open to us at the time.