Procedure and House Affairs committee  Mr. Chair and committee members, thank you for inviting me to appear before you today as part of the committee's study on Bill C-50, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act (political financing). With me today is Martine Richard, general counsel. Bill C-50 amends the Canada El

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Pardon? I didn't understand the question.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I will respond to complaints if they are valid. So I respond to the person who made the complaint. If I believe there is a real problem, I conduct an investigation.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Okay.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Sorry, when I refer to reports—

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes. I'm not sure where I referred to it, but they're reports of either an examination or an inquiry or an annual report.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  They are potentially subject to judicial review on certain limited grounds, like due process.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, you go to the Federal Court and it's a judicial review.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  We report on that, but it's not specifically audited. We have people auditing our financial management and that sort of thing.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Do I supervise what?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Parliament.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I alluded to that. I have to go by the rules in my legislation, and there is no rule in the members' code. There is a rule in the act, which says that a minister is not allowed to personally solicit funds, and so I've always said it's a very limited rule in the act.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The minister cannot, nor can the parliamentary secretary—a public office holder generally—solicit, personally, funds if doing so would put him or her in a conflict of interest. Okay, that's the only rule I have.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, that's right. There is no rule against—