Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Thank you very much.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Mr. Moore, it's been a very tricky issue. As I followed this debate over the last decade, we have gone round and round in terms of identifying institutions that could possibly play this role. Now we've come to the point where we've rejected the Public Service Commission and rejected some offshoot of the Auditor General that was once proposed.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  I've had a lot of experience with this stuff. A number of years ago I did a paper for the Auditor General--I don't know whether she would share it with you--on the subject of quality information for parliamentarians. The problem is there are 308 of you. I don't mean that you're a problem because there are 308 of you, but because you've all got different interests.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  First, on the CBO, it does very credible work in terms of estimating the costs of new programs, but the congressional apparatus is so much bigger, and the institutional rivalry in Congress, even when it's controlled by the same party as the President, is so strong that there's motivation there to look in depth.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  At the provincial level in my province, in other provinces, it often occurs on the floor of the legislature. There is more media coverage of it. There is still the political gamesmanship that goes on, but that's to be expected, I guess.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  It was 1974.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  First, when you introduce a wide-ranging series of changes like this, there undoubtedly will be unforeseen consequences. But you could sit in this room all summer long and probably not predict everything that's going to happen. There will be unintended consequences. It's very hard, and I wish social scientists like yours truly had more wisdom to say how particular changes will reverberate throughout the system, how they'll have impacts throughout the system.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  This is not as well informed an answer as I would like to give. It partly comes out of a certain conservatism on my part with regard to changing institutions. It also comes out of a sense of economy, that you have institutions that can do more than one thing. You have to be careful what functions you combine in institutions.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Yes, I say that, and I'd be happy to speak a little more about it. When you grant the Information Commissioner order-making power, you change the dynamics of the relationship with the agencies he's overseeing. On one day of the week, the Information Commissioner would be seeking to persuade people to do what he believes is the right thing to do and release certain information.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Just because parliamentary committees cannot assign or award sanctions against deputies doesn't mean that deputies don't take these appearances before committees seriously. I know them. I've interviewed the deputies. Over the years, I did work for the Lambert commission on financial management and for the Treasury Board on the reform of the supply process.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Okay. I've written in the past about officers of Parliament. We're adding to the population of those independent agencies that serve Parliament. Parliament clearly can't oversee government operations unaided, and it needs the support of auxiliary agencies, like officers of Parliament.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  I'm pleased to be here.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  All right. There is a document that I presented.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  I'll try to breeze through this fairly quickly. I know that I stand between you and dinner, and you've been working hard. I really welcome the opportunity to present my views on what is a very comprehensive, omnibus piece of legislation. Because of its nature, I think it doesn't lend itself to sweeping judgments about being either good or bad, and there'll be lots of disagreement over which are the good parts and which are the bad parts.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Slow down. Okay. I'm mindful of the clock, that's all.