Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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I call the meeting into public session.
The agenda today is a public hearing with Mr. Rob Wright on the report of the independent review panel, "Strengthening the Capacity of the Department of Finance." In doing this, I would like to welcome everyone to the second public hearing of the Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis. I welcome Mr. Rob Wright to discuss the report of the independent review panel on the Department of Finance. Mr. Wright has 35 years of economic policy management experience in the public service in Canada, over 20 years of which were at Deputy Minister level. Most recently Deputy Minister of Finance, he began his federal Government career as an economist with the Department of External Affairs. Over the next 12 years, he held various positions at the National Energy Board, the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources and the Department of Finance. In 1987, he was appointed Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet in the areas of priorities and planning at the Privy Council Office. Between 1989 and 2009, Mr. Wright held a number of positions at Deputy Minister level, including High Commissioner for Canada to New Zealand, Deputy Minister of Revenue Canada and the first Commissioner of the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, CCRA. He was also Associate Secretary to the Cabinet, Deputy Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister and national security adviser to the Prime Minister. Mr. Wright retired from his position as Deputy Minister of Finance in 2009, the 35th anniversary of his employment in the public service of Canada.
The report of the independent review panel, "Strengthening the Capacity of the Department of Finance", was commissioned in September 2010 by the then Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan, following his commitment at the Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service to the effect that a review would be carried out to assess the Department's policy advice and performance in the previous ten years and to make recommendations on how best the Department might adapt to meet the challenges of the future. Mr. Wright was chairman of the independent review panel.
Before beginning and to deal with the formalities of today's meeting, I wish to advise the witness that, by virtue of section 17(2)(l) of the Defamation Act 2009, witnesses are protected by absolute privilege in respect of their evidence to this committee. If he is directed by the Chair to cease giving evidence on a particular matter and he continues to so do, he is entitled thereafter only to qualified privilege in respect of his evidence. He is directed that only evidence connected with the subject matter of these proceedings is to be given. As he has been informed, the committee is asking witnesses to refrain from naming individuals in this phase of the inquiry. Members are reminded of the long-standing ruling of the Chair to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against a person outside the Houses or an official either by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable.
With that, I welcome Mr. Wright again and invite him to make some opening comments.