Good afternoon, Minister. Thank you for being with us today.
My colleague, Mr. Martin and I sat on the Legislative Committee on Bill C-2. We realized quite quickly what the government had asked for. Moreover, my colleague Mr. Stanton asked a question, and there was subsequently a discussion about the information that a member of Parliament should provide. We are wondering whether ministers, because they are also members of Parliament, must provide information. Conversely, a member of Parliament may also be a minister.
When we were studying Bill C-2, Mr. Martin, myself and the committee almost caused the proceedings to go off the rails, because we had forgotten to ask a particular question. It was actually the law clerk, Mr. Walsh, who pointed out that some provisions of the bill could violate members' privileges. We had not wondered about that until that time. So I would like to know whether there could be a violation of privilege when members have to provide information. For example, if a lobbyist meets with an opposition MP and the latter subsequently goes to see a minister, the member has indirectly done something the act prohibits him or her from doing.
In short, you are asking us to ask ourselves some questions about our immunity as ministers and members of Parliament with respect to information.