Through his comments, the parliamentary secretary is proving exactly what others have criticized him for today.
I want to explain to you the difference between what would have been acceptable, and what is not acceptable. The Prime Minister chooses the backdrop for his announcements: an apple orchard, a bucolic scene with the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-food looking on. He could have said that the government firmly intends to change the 51% rule, that this was not the correct approach to product labelling, that the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-food has been examining this issue for several months and that the government would be weighing the committee's recommendations very carefully because the current policy was inadequate and consumers were not being properly informed.
Had he said nothing more than that, we would not be having this discussion. However, he used this as an opportunity to make a political announcement on behalf of the Conservative Party. It is all well and good for Ms. Skelton to say that we are all proud of the Prime Minister and that he represents everyone. I'm sorry, but he is the Leader of the Conservative Party. He realized that this initiative would be popular with the public and he turned the event into a political announcement. It is the exact same kind of announcement that is heard week after week during an election campaign. That is exactly what the Prime Minister chose to do. He gauged the mood of the public and decided to jump at this opportunity to trump the committee.
However, he did not say anything at all about the work that we have been doing for the past several months. Therefore, the announcement resembled an advertisement for the Conservative Party, which is responsible for doing good things and for taking action, just like the parliamentary secretary said. That's the key difference. What the committee is doing is really of no consequence, quite simply because the Prime Minister has grabbed the spotlight for himself. He seems to have made up his mind already about the policy that will be implemented. We can go ahead and table our recommendations, but I'm far from convinced that it will do any good. As I see it, it's a fait accompli.