Mr. Chair, the minister and Mr. Poilievre maintain that ministers are responsible for whatever goes on in their office. However, when Minister Paradis was questioned about interference into access to information requests, the topic on today's agenda, he denied any knowledge of the situation and placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of his staff.
Both Mr. Poilievre and Mr. Baird have just told us that responsibility rests with the ministers, whereas Mr. Paradis argued that his staffers, and not himself, were the responsible parties. Your government maintains that ministers will take responsibility themselves. When the question was put to him, Mr. Paradis said that responsibility must rest with his staff and that he had no knowledge of the situation.
I'd just like to know how we are going to proceed. In this particular instance, the minister placed the blame on his staffers and said he had no knowledge of the request. We're hearing two completely contradictory stories from the Conservative government. For that reason, I will support my colleague's motion.