Public Accounts committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to thank the committee for the opportunity to be here today and to speak about the culture of the public service, an issue that is critically important to our effectiveness. Given the size, scope and geographic reach of our public service, we

National Defence committee  Madam Chair, I think I would just clarify that a minister who is responsible for a GIC appointee within their portfolio would indeed have access to that performance information. They would potentially have had a view on the person and may have been consulted in terms of their per

National Defence committee  I cannot speculate on that either.

National Defence committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. I would make a distinction here. An investigation by the military would not be part of our file. I think it is important.... As I said, the CDS is a bit of a unique function in that the CDS is part of the military and a Governor in Council appointee, but

National Defence committee  The actual investigative report would not be something that we would have. Any information about an individual that is related to that individual's appointment would be personal information that would be protected as such.

National Defence committee  The process is the same as for the public service in the sense that it is a process that does involve procedural fairness and independent investigations. When people bring complaints forward, they are evaluated in terms of whether or not they would meet, for example, the test if

National Defence committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. If there is no complaint launched, I think it very much depends on the context of the information, how it is brought about, what it is about. It's a difficult question to answer. I think I would say that we all are motivated and responsive to these things

National Defence committee  It would cover the year. We go on fiscal years, so something that took effect on April 1 would be in respect of the previous year. Those are recommendations. We support the recommendations that come forward to the Governor in Council. It is the Governor in Council that makes dec

National Defence committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to be very specific here. You're asking me about allegations. I believe the information that PCO did provide in terms of the response to media inquiries was that we did not have information that enabled any action to be taken. That's the situation.

National Defence committee  Thank you. It is very difficult, and I would counsel not to compare situations from one organization to another. As my colleague has mentioned, there were a number of people who had come forward to the media, feeling that recourse mechanisms were not working for them. There wa

National Defence committee  Okay, thank you. The CDS is appointed under the provisions of the National Defence Act by the Governor in Council. He does report to the minister in the context of his responsibilities, but he, as you know, has the management of the forces under his—

National Defence committee  May I go ahead, Madam Chair?

National Defence committee  As I've pointed out, the performance management process that does apply to GICs is an annual opportunity for considerations about leadership and performance of individuals to be brought to bear. Yes, there are avenues for that. A minister would absolutely have a view on that. In

National Defence committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. The performance review process is managed by PCO in support of and as part of our responsibilities in managing the Governor in Council community, which, as I mentioned, is very broad. It does have some general parameters for the process that is used. In t

National Defence committee  Deputy ministers are another category. The chief of the defence staff is a bit unique. He is a Governor in Council appointee and therefore is subject to the same pay at risk schedule. The recommendations are brought forward based on his objectives, his self-evaluation and some d