Mr. Chair, the majority of committee members voted in favour of the motion to immediately begin an inquiry into the way that the rights of various individuals were treated under the Access to Information Act with regard to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade's internal report. The motion was passed, and it is our duty to begin this inquiry in all haste.
Is it not true that this motion is good for us? If it is good for the Bloc Québécois, the Liberal Party and the NDP, it is also good for the Conservative Party.
I want to remind our Conservative friends of an editorial that appeared on Saturday in the Globe and Mail. It is not the Bloc Québécois, the Liberals or the NDP saying so, but rather the Globe and Mail. The article refers to the speech that Mr. Wallace made in the committee during his apparent filibuster. It also states that, as soon as a journalist arrived in the room, Mr. Tilson called for the vote.
You may laugh, Mr. Wallace, but it is not funny. It is not funny for democracy.
I want to quote from the article:
Mr. Wallace, and any who encouraged him in his filibuster, could use a refresher course on the realities of minority government.
I am not the one saying this, it is the Globe and Mail, and it also gives a little lesson on the nature of a minority government. The editorial concludes as follows:
The concern is that the Conservatives have got into the habit of using procedural tricks to block vexing hearings. The Conservative government has embraced the notion of accountability in principle. It should encourage its MPs to respect it in practice.
I would remind the Conservatives that this motion was passed by the majority. I would officially and solemnly ask them to quit resorting to procedural tricks so that we may immediately proceed with the inquiry on the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade's internal report, which was subject to a request under the Access to Information Act.