At the end of the day, he is part of the minister's staff, and the minister is responsible. We're falling back into a philosophical debate on a point that has been resolved within parliamentary tradition over hundreds of years. Despite those hundreds of years of history, it's a point that some members of the opposition are trying to undo, which is ministerial responsibility. Ministers are accountable to Parliament. They explain the activities of their departments and their staff.
In the previous Liberal government, there was an idea that ministers were not responsible. When major events—I will label them in the politest language possible—occurred, it could simply be blamed on bureaucrats, contractors, or shady third parties, but ministers were not responsible for anything that happened under their watch.
One of the things we've tried to do with this government is to ensure there is ministerial responsibility. Actions carried out by staff or public servants within a department are at least explained and answered for at the ministerial level.
It's why you saw the minister here today explaining the conduct of her staff and her office. She was prepared to have Mr. Sparrow come here for that explanation. For some reason, this committee has refused to have him here.
At the end of the day, it makes no difference to our political interests on this side. I think the entire exchange today demonstrated the transparency of our government and actually ended very well for our side of the debate. I have no problem with that. If they in fact want to have another discussion to put a further exclamation point in front of the successes that this case underlines, then that's fine.
But let's not pretend this is somehow Mr. Sparrow's fault. He was prepared to be available. The committee pulled what you called a “stunt” on one occasion and then refused his subsequent offer on another. I'm sure he's prepared to answer for all of his conduct. I would like to put it on the record that he has conducted himself with the highest level of integrity in his dealings with this committee.