The assistant deputy minister is not a reporting public office holder. Any conflict he has doesn't fall under my regime, first of all. Why he was invited there, I don't know. That was up to the SDTC to decide. If they saw his presence being there as consent, etc., that is troublesome, because they are supposed to make their decisions on the basis of their best judgment, not because it suits the department.
As I say, that's an observation from the Auditor General. It really has nothing to do with us at conflict of interest. A good government requires that in a meeting of the board of directors, you have the people who make their decisions based on their best understanding and judgment and you have resource persons there. You do not have persons there whose influence or whose position or something could be seen as tacit approval or disapproval.