Thank you very much for letting me speak, Mr. Chairman.
Two days ago, we had quite an active meeting in which members around the table were disrespectful toward the witnesses. Those witnesses complained in various ways.
First, an article in this morning's La Presse refers to the Conservatives as “rude”. That's the word that is used. It names the colleagues around the table who were disrespectful.
What is more, a few hours ago, we received an e-mail containing a copy of a letter from the Radio-Canada Communications Union complaining to none other than Prime Minister Stephen Harper. According to the letter, two colleagues around this table—and they are named—were arrogant and impolite, particularly toward francophone groups. Those groups say that the members listened to virtually none of their presentations, that they rose in turn and left the room instead of questioning them on their respective briefs or presentations, that they launched into long and vehement verbal protests claiming that the groups were there only to criticize the Conservative government, and that they accused them of not being duly mandated by the people they represented.
Mr. Chairman, you'll understand that receiving witnesses and being disrespectful toward them to this degree is unacceptable. I was wondering whether the individuals, who know who they are, would like to apologize and make a firm resolution not to do it again.
For my part, what I find the most unpleasant, apart from the incident on Monday, is that, when we receive francophone witnesses, people known to be unilingual anglophones remove their headsets and talk amongst themselves, to be sure they neither hear nor understand what is going on.
As a francophone, I find that attitude particularly insulting. I would ask that, in the batch of excuses those individuals will be making, they also tell us that they don't intend to adopt this attitude again, including not listening to witnesses who speak French.