National Defence committee  We did not close the file. We were open to proceeding further, had other information come in. I was hoping that other information might come in that might open up other avenues. I concede that it dropped off the radar in the spring of 2018 and it didn't have a sense of urgency at

National Defence committee  As I said, the performance review note that went in early July—there's no reason the Privy Council Office can't confirm the date it was sent, but my recollection is it would have been early July 2018—raised two issues with the Prime Minister. One was a recommendation of the perfo

National Defence committee  They are usually batched.

National Defence committee  In general terms there would be a cover note with a recommendation to the Prime Minister saying, here's a batch of orders in council or a specific order in council that you need to take a decision on. The Prime Minister has a particular role in appointments and a particular role

National Defence committee  I don't have all the information on hand. However, I think that the Wigston report raises the same issue that Mr. Lick brought up about trusting the process and changing the culture around accepting behaviour that has become normal in the military.

National Defence committee  It's a good idea, but it's not necessarily the answer. There are about a dozen officers of Parliament: the Auditor General, the Information Commissioner, the Commissioner of Official Languages, and so on. A range of agencies help Parliament to monitor the executive branch, that

National Defence committee  Thank you. That's quite a compliment because, since I retired, I have rarely used the language of Molière. I don't have a specific recommendation. If you want, I can speak to this again and give you my advice when the government has introduced legislation. The Wigston report may

National Defence committee  I don't believe there was a personnel file of that nature at the Privy Council Office. You would have to ask Ms. Sherman about that, but, no, I did not review any personnel file.

National Defence committee  I don't know what conversations took place among members of the Prime Minister's political staff. There would have been conversations between Janine Sherman and some of the staff in the PMO.

National Defence committee  I can't know the answer to that.

National Defence committee  I don't recall whether we did or not. I understand from one of the media reports that Ms. Sherman did draft a note about the process issues around an investigation. I read that in one of the media reports.

National Defence committee  I did not provide them. I think Ms. Sherman spoke to somebody, I presume Mr. Marques, in the Prime Minister's Office.

National Defence committee  I'm sorry. I don't understand.

National Defence committee  No. He was not the chief of staff. He was one of the officers. The chief of staff to the Prime Minister is Katie Telford.

National Defence committee  That would be because I'm the boss of the Prime Minister's department. That would have been going right to the top and saying, “We have this very serious issue. The minister wants it looked into. What's the best way to proceed?”