Procedure and House Affairs committee  Madam Chair, if I understand the question correctly—that it was wonderful to be back home—I think that was Mr. Trudeau going back to 24 Sussex Drive, and that was not available. The secretary to the office of the Governor General very gallantly said that he would be happy to vacate Rideau Cottage, and that's why Mr.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Madam Chair, to answer the question, I don't believe I have a conflict of interest, and I would not have undertaken this responsibility had I had a conflict of interest. What I would say is that, for 55 years, I've chaired or served on advisory committees, perhaps two or three dozen times, because of my non-partisanship and my integrity.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Again, Madam Chair, I appreciate that particular question. I've been asked to be brief. We did have an opportunity to meet with Mr. O'Toole shortly before our report was completed and did take into consideration what he had to say to us. I must say that he has been a very knowledgeable, thoughtful person about this and has much more to contribute.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Madam Chair, could I have the question repeated?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  No, Madam Chair, I don't receive any payment as former governor general. I have a pension as a public servant, and that is the pay.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Madam Chair, thank you for that question. I joined the association of the Trudeau Foundation. That's like a shareholder in a general meeting, not a member of the board of directors, not involved in any decision-making—

Procedure and House Affairs committee  [Inaudible—Editor] an annual general meeting to vote in the board, to approve the financial statements—no involvement in fundraising of any kind. That was 2018, and I resigned in March of this year, when I was appointed to this role.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Madam Chair, I do recall referring to the fact that my own children and Mr. Trudeau, as a young boy, did have opportunities to ski together four or five times. Between that time and when he became Prime Minister, I had no meetings with Mr. Trudeau, and our children, to my knowledge, did not.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Madam Chair, thank you for both questions. I'll answer very briefly but I hope helpfully. With respect to whether we would expect members of the diaspora community to be able to appear before a public hearing in openness, I'm quite confident they will, in many instances, and in instances where they do not want to be there, we would receive submissions.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you for those questions, which are really vital and important and require very thoughtful attention. You're quite right: The diaspora communities have been beset with interference and the disturbance of their tranquility, their own safety and their well-being in ways that are unconscionable.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Madam Chair, that's a really important question of when information moves into the sphere of evidence and when it's classified or not classified. It's one of the issues that we hope to address in depth in the public hearings that will be held over the next five months, the issue of whether we have the right direction and the right balance in determining what must be kept secret and what can be put into the open situation.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Madam Chair, the issue of public inquiries is important, and what we realize is that when we're dealing with classified information, it becomes very difficult. It has been possible in other reviews to have sessions that haven't dealt with classified information and to shine the light of day on those.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Madam Chair, certainly with respect to the public hearings we have in mind, it will be possible to invite representatives of CSIS and other experts from both the government and outside of the government to comment on this. With respect to the issue of cost, I want to emphasize the costliness in terms of the time that is wasted in getting at the real issues of how we address foreign interference and come up with reforms and changes and improvements, and the careful oversight of our operations to be sure that we will do a much better job than we're doing at the present time on something that is a very serious and not fully recognized danger to our democratic society in Canada.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Madam Chair, first of all, I warmly reinforce the comments that have just been made with respect to people losing interest in and understanding of democracy and that we must work very hard to build that trust. I would also say that what we're seeing around the world is a diminishing trust in democracies all over.