Mr. Walsh, I won't be asking you any questions, but I will make a comment. You can respond, if you wish.
To begin, I would like to distance myself from what certain committee members said and apologize for the lack of respect they showed you and the Constitution.
It is understandable that a member, due to a lack of experience, would ask who ordered a document and then demand that the official appear before the committee because he is paid to do so, and so on. That might be understandable. However, when a parliamentary secretary as much as says: “Hey, buddy, send me your 15 amendments, we'll take a look at them for an hour and then flush them down the toilet”, that is, in my opinion, inexcusable and unacceptable. I feel it shows an utter disregard for basic politeness. So I would like to distance myself from those remarks, because unfortunately I am a member of the committee even when such things are said.
Further, I never said that your document referred to a constitutional crisis. I simply said that your document referred to the Constitution. Unfortunately, though we are trying to conduct a rigorous study of Bill C-2—which was drafted in six weeks and which we are being asked to pass in three weeks—we are being accused of partisanship. As far as I know, you are not a member of any political party; you are the legal advisor for members of the House of Commons, and you are their protector. We have been accused, you—who raised the alarm—and I—while trying to do my job with rigour—of being guilty of partisanship and of being obstructive. In 13 years I have never witnessed anything like this and I find it unthinkable.
I would like to quote a passage from your document which is on page 5. It says:
Bill C-2 overlooks the necessary constitutional divide that gives exclusive authority to discipline members of the House of Commons to the House of Commons and authority to discipline public office holders (ministers and parliamentary secretaries) to the government.
This is merely one passage which underscores the fact that we must study your document closely and seriously, because it is highly relevant. We must also, in the same manner, consider Bill C-2. As well, as Mr. Murphy said a little earlier, it is possible that the intent is for the Constitution and constitutional rights acquired since 1867 not be respected anymore. If the government prefers one approach over another, it should do so openly. But that is not what is happening.
I would like to thank you for having written this document. I would like to thank you for having raised the alarm. I apologize for the irreverent and disrespectful things which have been directed at you. I certainly hope that your message will be heard. Unfortunately, it seems that the government still wishes to push this bill through for base political reasons, such as the fact that they want to make the Liberals pay for their previous low blows. I think that if we push the bill through too quickly, all members of Parliament, all officials and indeed all Canadians will pay the price for these petty political games.
That's all I had to say. I would be pleased to hear you respond, but if you don't do so, I'll understand.