Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My motion is quite simple: that the committee hold hearings with officials from the CBC regarding the relationship with Mr. Frank Graves and EKOS Research Associates, and Mr. Graves' relationship with the Liberal Party of Canada.
Obviously, I want to make a distinction here. To begin with, this is not in any way an attack on the CBC. I think the CBC has acted impartially; I think they've contracted an individual to provide services and in no way has the CBC made any of these documents available to a given party, to the exclusion of other parties. They have not asked somebody to do research and then turned it over in a preferential fashion to a given political party.
I do, however, think this is a reflection on Mr. Graves and his judgment. His comments were extremely hurtful to rural Canadians and western Canadians. Frankly, I think they caused significant concern in metropolitan areas too. I know they were a big issue on major metro radio stations in Toronto and in places like Ottawa as well, and throughout the west. I find it extremely troubling that he saw fit to make these comments based on research he had done and been paid for by the public broadcaster. I think his actions are deplorable in this case. I think they were hurtful and harmful. I also think that members of the opposition should also find it concerning that he is utilizing public funds to provide private counsel with respect to the polling he's doing.
I think it's entirely reasonable that Mr. Graves be brought before the committee to talk about his actions, to find a way, as far as I'm concerned, to explain himself.
I think in the CBC's case, I'd like to understand a little bit of the process they go through in contracting individuals. Obviously, the CBC has many people go on air as commentators. The people invited onto their programs are not paid as commentators for the most part. They are free to provide whatever views they wish. I believe in free speech, but I think you cross a significant line when an individual uses public funds from a contract to provide services to the public broadcaster to then provide private counsel to a given political party. I would think that the Liberal Party would want to distance itself from this very quickly.
It could be interpreted, from Mr. Graves' suggestion to invoke a culture war, that Mr. Ignatieff has in fact undertaken that, both with his position to whip his members on the private member's bill on the long gun registry and his comments during an interview on a Saskatchewan radio station just last week, when he suggested that any Saskatchewan lawyers who ever hoped to be on the Supreme Court had better learn French. I think that's insensitive. I think it is invoking a culture war. I would think the Liberal Party would want to distance itself from that.
Thank you.