Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  You're welcome.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  In making the three amendments I suggested, I tried to keep in mind what appeared at least to be the legislative calendar, or what appeared to be the calendar through which this was going to be considered and then dealt with. I made no attempt whatsoever to go into a detailed clause-by-clause imagination of how a revised bill might look in trying to realize whatever the government's intentions were.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  That is a difficult question for me to comment on, since in a sense it's a personal question. I find it very awkward to make any comment at all. I think in that sense it's unintended, but I think it's a little unfair. I'd rather make no comment, if that would satisfy you.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  I understand. I get the point.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Again, these things tend to be context dependent. It's always easy to think of single examples and then try to generalize them to everybody. I think that both people who are in power obviously have access to power in certain ways, and therefore one has to be careful about what their previous associations were and how they deal with those in the context of their current environment.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  I think the operative word is advice. That is, I think that having a preamble of some sort, having some standards against which we try to interpret the meaning of the act--and the act is going to be interpreted over and over again in the event that it passes--is terribly helpful in trying to sort out the differences between situations that appear the same but are in a context that in fact makes them different.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  I certainly don't want to prejudge what the Senate is going to be concerned about when they consider this bill. That was an issue the last time around; I was not present at the time and I can't comment on its details. I think one thing you said would not be helpful if it were repeated too easily, and it is that it is not envisioned that the appointment be one of the executive.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Thank you very much. Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, thank you for the invitation to appear before your committee today. To begin, I would like to introduce my colleagues who are with me — Mr. Robert Benson, the Deputy Commissioner, and Ms. Lyne Robinson-Dalpé, Director of Corporate Services.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I haven't got an answer to the second question because I haven't thought about it very carefully and I haven't looked at the material recently. Perhaps Mr. Benson can help. Relative to the first question, I think you are right: huis clos would be a better way of phrasing it.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That is correct. My concern has always been focused on the members themselves and not the members of their families. We hoped to use the family information to help advise the members about where a conflict of interest might arise and therefore how to behave appropriately. That was in fact what we suggested.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  You're welcome.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think it also depends on the type of show you're talking about. For example, I would not agree to appear on a talk show of any kind that has the call-in kind of arrangement. It's just not right in this particular context. On the other hand, I think we do have an educational function to try to help make Canadians understand that there is a program, and that it's moving forward and developing over time, etc.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Saying anything about a specific person would be wrong.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'm not going to make any comment about public servants. I haven't thought about it carefully, and I don't wish to comment on it. In terms of differences in standards, let's say, or in guidelines for ministers and parliamentary secretaries, etc., as compared to MPs, I have no problem with the fact that there are differences.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  You might be right. That would be a far more appropriate answer.