Finance committee  That is correct.

Finance committee  They related to management as well.

Finance committee  You are testing my memory, but I would say it essentially involved issues relating to accountability, the way the money was spent.

Finance committee  I would not want to characterize the problems. That is not for me to do here. However, certain issues were raised.

Finance committee  It is not for me to characterize what the investigation said. In fact, I think it is public; the results were released publicly. However, as in any type of investigation, there are always issues that come out and recommendations that are made to improve existing practices.

Finance committee  Thank you. I haven't personally heard very specific reaction. This is really very much a world in transition. It was known that Rights and Democracy had its share of problems. The minister made very specific reference to that and felt that it was really time now to move behind th

Finance committee  Well, the difficulties with Rights and Democracy can certainly be associated with the relationship between the board of directors and the actual staff and management. To say there were no problems before I think would be.... There were also difficulties in the past. I mean, in an

Finance committee  Well, I would say again that we have many partners, and really, our challenge right now is to make recommendations and present options to the minister to make sure that he can implement his objectives in terms of democracy and human rights, with the partners and the tools that he

Finance committee  We have an ongoing relationship dialogue with this community, but more specifically on the programs that we manage directly. As I indicated at the beginning, we manage a $3 million program in support of democratic projects abroad. It's really the question of the tools and what ar

Finance committee  Thank you again for the question. One thing I would like to make specific is that Rights and Democracy was an arm's length organization from the government, so in that sense it would not represent the Government of Canada. It's too early at this stage for me to be able to say th

Finance committee  It could have happened. They were not talking on behalf of the Government of Canada.

Finance committee  Thank you. I don't have a specific example in mind, but Rights and Democracy was operating within a mandate that was established by the legislation and guidance of its board of directors. So for its operation, the director and his staff were reporting to its board and not to the

Finance committee  It would be difficult for me, really, to speak on behalf of the director of Rights and Democracy, Mr. Gérard Latulippe. I know he wanted to focus more on the democracy mandates of the organization, as opposed to human rights, and also on taking Rights and Democracy more toward th

Finance committee  I don't think it's for me to answer that question. We will obviously make recommendations to the minister, and the minister will take the decision, which we will be responsible for implementing.

Finance committee  For this year it's too early to say as we are looking to the closure and the commitment the organization still has. As for next year, this will depend on how far we may be able to go with a proposal we can make to the minister, and the decisions the minister will make regarding t