Okay, I appreciate that.
I think you would need to look at if a question is asked but not answered to your satisfaction, or there's refusal to answer, that makes it a supplementary question. Or is it a fact that you didn't get an answer, and does it make it not answered because you didn't get the answer you wanted?
I'm not sure, based on your logic, whether I can even speak, because I didn't like all of his answers. There's no doubt about it. I didn't like all of Mr. Mulroney's answers. I didn't like a lot of Mr. Schreiber's answers. I didn't like answers of other witnesses we had. But I think if we're going to have a motion that will call Mr. Mulroney back and we're expecting him to answer supplementary questions, it is important for this committee to understand what questions were already asked and answered, whether you like the answer or not. And I think I have the right, as a member of the committee who sat through those long meetings, to make that point. You may not agree with me, and I don't really care, but I think I have the right to make that point as a committee member.
And there are other committee members here today who were not at those hearings and have no idea, when they make their decision on voting on this motion, whether there are other supplementary questions or not. So I think it's vitally important for us to understand what was asked and what was said when the Right Honourable Brian Mulroney was here in front of us.
I don't think I'm out of order on that. I have the right to do that. I can re-question what was said. I have it further down here, but you brought up a good example. I did ask Mr. Mulroney for his GST number, and his answer was that he had no idea whether he would need a GST number, because, as many of you know, you need to make a certain amount of revenue a year before you actually require a GST number. He said he wasn't sure that he was going to make that amount of money and require a GST number.
Mr. Chair, do I need to ask him again? Do I need to recall him to ask him again? No. I got the answer he gave me. Did I like the answer? Did I think it was off the top of his head? Absolutely. But that doesn't mean it wasn't an answer. That doesn't mean my question wasn't legitimate. Do I need to call him back to another meeting to ask him a supplementary question, to say, “Remember, Mr. Mulroney, I asked you about your GST number and you told me you weren't getting one. Why not?”
I'm telling you I'm not voting for this motion because I don't need that information. I don't think it's that important, based on all the other evidence I've heard and on the inquiry that's already been announced and is in the process of being set up by the Prime Minister.
So to tell me that I can't go through the minutes to look at what has been asked, not just by me, Mr. Chair, but by our opposition members, by Mr. Martin.... Is this in Mr. Martin's motion? I should have the right to look at what Mr. Martin asked and what the response was--Mr. Martin probably didn't like the answer, or maybe he did like the answer--and based on that answer, to put to my fellow committee members what supplementary questions could be asked from that.