Information & Ethics committee  Yes. It's significantly higher now. I'm just in the process of gathering those figures. We're not at the end of this fiscal year yet, but we're in the process of gathering them for our next annual report. But I can say that we've put a huge effort on the 60-day and the 120-day de

Information & Ethics committee  Yes. I inherited this office a year and a half ago, and what you're referring to is the fall-out from the previous office. As I said, one of my first priorities was to get the timelines into shape, and I think we've done so. Definitely, when I came in I found there was a lot of b

Information & Ethics committee  It's mainly stocks and investments. It's just the cost of the trustee to administer those investments. What I found was that some people weren't claiming anything for those and other people were claiming. We have guidelines on our website, and some people claimed more than the

Information & Ethics committee  There's no differentiation about who you receive them from, but if you're talking about the act, there's a $1,000 limit. Under the code, there's no limit. Then there are different limits for reporting.

Information & Ethics committee  The sponsored travel is dealt with completely separately and it's just a matter of reporting the amount. Yes, there's no limit.

Information & Ethics committee  I can't really comment, because it is a matter of policy, but one comment I suppose I could make is that as far as I'm concerned, disclosure is more potent than anything else, and at least it has to be disclosed.

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. First, may I congratulate you on your re-election as chair of the committee. I thank the committee for the invitation to appear before you today. I look forward to working with all of you. I understand that most members are new to this committee. I am ple

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you very much.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Those are value judgments, and it really belongs to parliamentarians to make decisions on them. The problem I'm having with certain parts of this code is that there's very little guidance on just what parliamentarians want their rules to be. That's why I wanted to have the discus

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think it would be very worth while considering that. It's not within my realm, of course, but it is a problem, and if it becomes an increasing problem.... I struggled with the Thibault case for a long time, putting out the report. As you know, I found technically that he had co

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Sure. But again, that's not my bailiwick, and it would be a parliamentary decision.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I wouldn't want to make a specific comment there.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  In general, there is a very difficult line to figure out between a political activity and a non-political activity. My office should not get too far into the realm of political activities. Frankly, it's a question we continue to struggle with as to just where that line is. That p

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Roses are usually okay.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It's all a question of each specific case and the surrounding circumstances. They're questions I can't give you a quick answer to. Certainly half a dozen roses is generally fine; it's customary--even a dozen.