The Liberals can make the decision that this committee will longer meet, which puts this motion with regard to Hockey Canada on hold until the fall, and perhaps even beyond. The subamendment brought forward by Mr. Julian to say we're going to do clause-by-clause first.... We'll do that before, and then, after some time in the future—it could be down the road by weeks, months or even longer—we will eventually get to the unanimous consent motion passed in the House of Commons.
I have concerns about that, for a few reasons. One, it's actually disgraceful to the victim who came forward with her story, and it's a disgrace to those members of Parliament—to all of us—who stood in the House of Commons in support of this motion and taking it seriously. Two, it revictimizes this individual. What Mr. Julian is proposing is that her voice isn't worth hearing now. We'll hear it eventually. We'll give it attention eventually. We'll look into this eventually, which I think is very disheartening.
In addition to that, we have heard from the Minister of Sport that she was “shocked and angry”—those are the words she used—to learn about these allegations, and that she wished to get to the bottom of it. One of the ways we can make sure that happens is by acting on the study called for through this unanimous consent motion. Again, the Minister of Sport, who falls under the heritage committee, has said she wants to know whether any public funds were used to cover up this story of gang rape, and she wants an audit of federal funding and how it was used.
We can go with Mr. Julian's motion, and do it eventually—some day down the road—or we can do the right thing, be vigilant, take this victim seriously, and do the study now. We have an opportunity to communicate clearly to Canadians about how we treat victims in this place, how seriously we take their stories, and how genuinely we want to get to the bottom of something. I take the Minister of Sport at her word when she says that she does, in fact, want to know whether public funds were used, and that she does, in fact, want an audit with regard to those funds. The way she can make good on those commitments, indications or well-wishes is by allowing this study to go forward in a timely fashion.