Procedure and House Affairs committee  Precisely. And that's why there's a rule in the code that says cumulative gifts. If you get a whole bunch of gifts and they're cumulative, then it starts to be a problem. Similarly, with invitations out to dinner or something, there's a cumulative aspect to all those things.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'll ask Gail Lidstone to answer that question.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The issues are always complex. We have to read every section of the code to determine exactly which provisions apply. It is very difficult to answer specific questions. We need some time to think about our answer.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Certainly.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I haven't brought those to do for today. We probably don't have time to have a detailed discussion today on this subject. I'm asking that you consider having a detailed discussion. For that discussion, I could bring either point-form or draft guidelines or whatever you'd like to

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, I said ministers and staff.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It doesn't include members of Parliament. That's a different regime. It includes ministers, parliamentary secretaries, and all of the ministerial-exempt staff, but the largest group is Governor in Council appointees, which is a huge group of several thousand. That means deputy mi

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It's a matter of deciding how they want to work with me, but that's precisely what I'm here to discuss. However, this is separate from the matter of the forms.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I admit that I do have some trouble interpreting the rules as they are now drafted.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think there's something about forms or anything in writing; people like to look at the exact details. When I tried to take the forms back on an earlier occasion there were many comments for improvements. The forms we're still using have some defects in them. It's just that peop

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Since July 2007, just over a year.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  As I indicated, the problem goes back before my time. The previous commissioner was trying as well to get the forms approved. The new prohibition that came in at the same time I started basically was that you couldn't even disclose the forms; you couldn't make them public. He had

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you very much. Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, first of all, allow me to congratulate you on your election, or re-election, and on your appointment to this committee. Thank you for inviting me here today. With me today are Catherine MacQuarrie, assistant commissi

Information & Ethics committee  I don't think so. I simply thank you for hearing me out, and I do hope we will work constructively together as the months go by. Thank you very much.