Environment committee  I read a little about the work you are doing. When it comes to independence, we mean the independence of the office holder. I believe that's what you're referring to here and this is something for Parliament to decide. As Ms. Santi so aptly said, it has been proven—and I'm talkin

Environment committee  I'm here at your invitation.

Environment committee  I don't know if I can comment, but I do think—and others have mentioned this—that when we talk about independence in this case, we mean independence from the government. Obviously, the position of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development is part of the Offi

Environment committee  A lot of the work we do is basically on the facts that we get either from our investigations, our audits, or our special studies, and also analyzing what government is doing, their policies, etc. One thing that my predecessor did was a study on the governmental transformations

Environment committee  No, never.

Environment committee  Directly, no. However, like all officers of Parliament, we know each other and have spoken on occasion.

Environment committee  The Commissioner has a seven-year mandate that is renewable.

Environment committee  Yes.

Environment committee  In theory, the commissioner's mandate can be renewed for a period of six months, to give the government time to appoint someone new to this position. The fact remains that no commissioner has been—

Environment committee  Yes. An auditor was on loan to my office for one year, because the auditor position in the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages was abolished by my predecessor when the program review was conducted. I reintroduced this function when I became Commissioner and naturally

Environment committee  Before I answer that question, Mr. Bigras, let me clarify my comments. I did not say that the position of Commissioner was an ideal. At the time, while the act clearly recognized the equality of the country's two official languages, the equality of status and use of English and F

Environment committee  I'm not sure that any commissioner really took it upon himself or herself to really review, let's say, the regulations for the Official Languages Act. We could do it. For example, before I left office, I made the recommendation that government should review the regulation on offi

Environment committee  Mr. Chairman, committee members, good afternoon. In the past few years, it has been my pleasure, as Commissioner of Official Languages, to take part in a number of round tables and conferences concerning the role and nature of the various officers of Parliament. If any consensus