Government Operations committee  The individuals in the secretariat have moved on to other positions.

Government Operations committee  Madame Chair, I don't have an answer to that question, because these were names that are currently in for ministerial consideration that we looked at. I am not privy to what happened since that point in time.

Government Operations committee  Madame Chair, I do not know the answer to the question.

Government Operations committee  Madame Chair, if I may, the secretariat has not been shut down. The secretariat exists.

Government Operations committee  If I may, Madame Chair, the few individuals are very dedicated individuals who were involved in the secretariat and have received other options in terms of their careers and career development.

Government Operations committee  The secretariat is in place. At the moment, employees have been asked to do other things. In my case, I was approached by the Clerk of the Privy Council.

Government Operations committee  If I may, Madame Chair, it's because individuals have moved to other positions.

Government Operations committee  Madame Chair, as I've indicated earlier, and I only know this from personal conversations, the process is under way to replace the executive director, namely myself. I assume she or he would proceed to complete the staffing of the people who have moved on. I indicate again that

Government Operations committee  I have no knowledge, sir.

Government Operations committee  That's correct. We were provided with data that did not indicate who these individuals were.

Government Operations committee  Madame Chair, I can reply as I have that the role of the secretariat was to move forward the staff work in order to put in place what had been determined first by the government through order in council and secondly by Parliament through Bill C-2.

Government Operations committee  That is correct.

Government Operations committee  If I may, Madame Chair, what we looked at was the current list of names available for ministerial selection that we had to define a particular group. That list amounted to 71 names. We did not know the names; we looked only at the cases. Twenty individuals did not meet the pass c

Government Operations committee  If I may, Madame Chair, I would make one slight change. Those were names that were made available for the minister to consider.

Government Operations committee  Madame Chair, there are elements of that that I do believe fall into that category. However, the honourable member has asked a question about travel, and I would like, if you allow me, to provide you and the committee with the facts. The honourable member mentioned Tuktoyaktuk.