Yes, I was going to read a quote from Ms. Philpott, but I was unable to bring it up.
I've seen many scandals in my 15 years. I've seen people doing dumb things. I've seen people getting caught for taking money. I've seen people, mostly men—almost all men—doing dumb things sexually that they shouldn't have done. I've never, ever, seen two people resign from the highest positions that you can imagine in the country because of an issue of integrity.
I was very struck by former minister Philpott, who had no need to give up her career for this, and who carries enormous weight in the communities I represent, I must say, for the work she did on Treaty 9. She said there are things that are bigger than your political career. It's about ethics, she said. It's about the Constitution; it's about integrity. After this scandal is all said and done, people will remember those statements and say that it is possible, within the Canadian parliamentary system, to do things with integrity, but sometimes it has a cost.
In the case of Ms. Wilson-Raybould, she clearly did not have animosity with the Prime Minister's Office. She respected them, but she was willing to give that up. In the case of Ms. Philpott, she gave up the position of president of the Treasury Board, which is an extremely high honour, in order to say that it is about a larger principle, the rule of law.
I appeal to my colleagues that this is about integrity, and it's hard. It's hard when it's your party that's in the vise grip and you are extremely loyal. Your party gets you elected. Your number one obligation is to the party that got you elected, but what you carry from that point on is your integrity. I've seen people give up their integrity because they think they're being loyal to their party, but at the end of the day what you carry through Parliament and through your career is that integrity. That's what you trade on, and that's what gets you out of trouble if you make mistakes.
I would appeal to my colleagues, based on the very clear call of Ms. Philpott, that we do this and we do it right.