Public Safety committee  All our—

Public Safety committee  Because the committee indicated he wasn't necessary.

Public Safety committee  I'm sorry, that's the information we have.

Public Safety committee  What I'm saying is that Mr. Lynch was very willing to come today—

Public Safety committee  Well, I'd like to answer the question.

Public Safety committee  I am trying to answer the question. I am saying Mr. Lynch was very willing to come to the committee. The indication we got back, I presume through the clerk, was that the committee was quite happy to have the three of us.

Public Safety committee  I was just explaining to you what “other concerns” means. When it comes to crime and security, which are two inputs to cabinet-making, prime ministers consider, as those of you who have been cabinet ministers will know, many, many other factors besides what comes from the background check.

Public Safety committee  Organized crime is obviously a concern in this country, as it is in many western countries. I would expect that if there was a significant concern about a minister's connection with organized crime, that would come out of a criminal or security check.

Public Safety committee  I wouldn't necessarily come to those conclusions.

Public Safety committee  I wouldn't necessarily come to those conclusions.

Public Safety committee  No, that's not the only thing we have done. We did call for cabinet documents to be returned from Mr. Bernier's office, which is the normal thing when a minister leaves cabinet. And they will review all of the process for dealing with secret documents. I agree with you. I would hope that if there are other documents missing, that would become part of the review as well.

Public Safety committee  First of all, background checks are a very small part of my particular day--any day.

Public Safety committee  I tried to not take too much of the committee's time, but the beginning of my opening statements say there are a large number of security issues confronting this country. I gave a couple of examples of security preparations for the G8 and for the 2010 Olympics. Those are certainly things that I would be involved in coordinating with other government departments.

Public Safety committee  “Or other concerns”, in this particular case, refers to the fact that we also do a tax compliance check and a bankruptcy check.

Public Safety committee  I think we've answered that, Mr. Cullen. All that presumes that there's something illegal going on and something we haven't agreed to. I think we have answered.