Mr. Chairman, this motion is suggesting that, although the Legislature has agreed to withdraw the application made by Jane Groenewegen, that application has been approved by the Legislature to be withdrawn, so it is withdrawn. Notwithstanding that, this committee that we set up, which is a special committee set up to take the place of the Board of Management to deal with this issue, is now asking to have its life extended and its mandate expanded to consider a whole range of issues, which I do not see any particular substance to right now.

I think Members are in agreement that when we set up this process, it was, to quote some Members, "getting into uncharted territory." In many ways, this motion reflects that. The committee is saying there is a request to withdraw the application and the Legislature approves that, but irregardless of it, the committee wants to continue.

The Member of the Legislature has got her request approved, so is now not going to be a party to this process. We have approved that.

We also have a letter from the Conflict of Interest Commissioner which, the way I read it, suggests that she never wanted to be part of this process in the first place, so there is no indication that this Conflict of Interest Commissioner is going to be a willing participant in the process to continue. If anything, it reads like get it over with. Shut it down because it is not a process that she endorses.

It is my view that the process, because it is uncharted as you say, is going to continue to escalate in cost and is going to distract and consume a tremendous amount of our time and energy. Right now, I do not see any substance to deal with. There are things that were uncovered in the course of the work. I do not know what they are. The public does not know what they are.

There are some innuendoes and suggestions made, but they do not appear to be substantial. If there are issues considering conduct, that is for the Board of Management, or perhaps myself as Premier, to deal with.

There are avenues. We do not need a special committee to deal with those issues that may have arisen in the course of this committee doing its work. That is really my point. The Board of Management has been misplaced by this special committee. The bias issue has been withdrawn, so there is no need for this motion. The Board of Management can and should resume its duties at the earliest instance.

If there are issues regarding the conduct of Ministers, myself and senior officials, there is a forum in place to deal with it, so I do not see a need for this type of a committee. I believe the Legislature should see the report of the Conflict of Interest Commissioner as she has asked. She has asked to have the report dealt with and accept it. The last motion we dealt with opens the door to that. We should have a look at that and that should point to the fact that this process is no longer required.

I do not know about other Members, but the Conflict of Interest Commissioner continues to perform her duties. If the public has lost confidence, then who is saying that? I am not saying that. If anything, I have used the Conflict of Interest Commissioner's office and sought her advice in the course of the last couple of months. Just because you say it does not make it true. If you say it very often, you might make it sound like it is true.

I think that you have to respect the integrity of these offices and let everybody get back to the jobs they where asked to do. Thank you.