Finance committee  Gladly, Chair. One can imagine that if there were not any application of principles at the outset of the exercise, even neutral public servants might be inclined to look at one document and say: “Oh, this will be awkward, and we won't release it, but this one will be all right,

Finance committee  Chair, I regret, but I think we're back to the initial round. I am not in a position today to get into the numbers of documents.

Finance committee  That's right.

Finance committee  No.

Finance committee  That is correct.

Finance committee  No, I have not.

Finance committee  As the custodian of cabinet confidences, I would take the same principled approach to every case. Chair, given that the member has opened the door to the SNC-Lavalin case, I think it is worth pointing out that I indicated to the Ethics Commissioner that had he grounds for belie

Finance committee  Chair, I want to assure the committee that I don't want to be argumentative, but I also don't want to leave the impression that I have not responded to the committee's request. I wrote a letter to the committee indicating my willingness and that of my colleagues to come to explai

Finance committee  Chair, this question—the first question in particular—goes right to the heart of what we are talking about. I consider it a natural and a perfectly justifiable thing for a committee of the House of Commons to ask for information, including cabinet confidences, in this case or in

Finance committee  Again, it depends on the situation. For example, all documents can be shared among the members of a review team of a dozen or 25 people. I must point out, that is an estimate. The documents requested by the House as part of the Standing Committee on Health's study constitute mil

Finance committee  It's more theoretical than that. I can provide a few examples of the exercise to the committee.

Finance committee  In principle, it is, yes.

Finance committee  No, but, I started the ball rolling in the system, and if people had questions, doubts, trouble interpreting the instructions, the departments could ask the Privy Council Office for a judgment call. In that sense, yes, and ultimately, I am responsible.

Finance committee  I did not consult with any ministers to have our decisions approved. As I recall, I informed the Prime Minister of my approach to this exercise, but I didn't consult with the ministers or the Prime Minister in making specific decisions.

Finance committee  Mr. Chair, it hadn't occurred to me to do the arithmetic in answer to the previous questions, but if that were the total number, then it would be in that order of pages. I don't know if it would be full pages. As I said, a redaction can be a line or a paragraph. As I said, our