Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The warrant for witness signed by the Speaker of the House of Commons on November 27 clearly states that Mr. Schreiber must have access to any place to retrieve any necessary document as may be needed as papers for his appearance before our Committee.
Mr. Chairman, contrary to Mr. Hiebert, I believe that we could make good use of our time this morning. As other committee members have well said, Mr. Schreiber will remain under the authority of our warrant for witness until we have finished our work. Nothing prevents us from finding other dates.
If Mr. Hiebert is suggesting that we sit this evening or tomorrow, we will not object, unless he is telling us to stop now. We are here and we can indeed put questions of a general nature.
We are opposed to what has been suggested, but when Mr. Wallace talks of this, he takes his premise for an axiom. It is not true that Mr. Schreiber has had access to his papers; he told us that he did not access them. The fact that he was able to prepare an affidavit does not mean that he had access to his papers.
This is a most formal order and, personally, I rise up against the fact that Mr. Schreiber has not been offered the access required under our warrant for witness. This is unacceptable. The very respect for our parliamentary institution is in question. I want you, as Chairman of our Committee, representing this institution, to do what is required so as to ensure that the will of Parliament is fully respected in the pursuit of our work.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.