Madam Chair, I'd like at this point in time to table a motion that was presented as a notice on July 14 by my colleague Mr. Charlie Angus. This is a motion for the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics:
That, whereas there is a culture of Ethical Permissiveness around the Prime Minister; and whereas the Prime Minister has twice been found to be in contravention of the Conflict of Interest Act and is under investigation for a third potential breach; and whereas the Prime Minister's Office thus appears to lack the capability or inclination to adequately advise the Prime Minister with respect to the avoidance of conflicts of interest or the appearance of conflicts of interest in compliance with Canadian law, the Committee move that pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(h), the Committee undertake a study of the policies, procedures, and practices surrounding ethical conduct and avoidance of conflicts of interest within the Prime Minister's Office, including testimony from the Clerk of the Privy Council, Ian Shugart and Katie Telford, Chief of Staff the Prime Minister's Office; and that the Committee, upon completion of its study, issue a report with recommendations to better permit the Prime Minister's Office to conduct the business of government with public confidence in its integrity.
Let me take a moment to speak to this. Clearly it's in the purview of this committee, as we've just discussed and debated in the previous motions, to hold members of government accountable for decisions that are made by government. What has also been made very clear throughout this entire debate, however, are the repeated ethical violations and the apparent lack of ethical standards being applied. We have watched this occur at almost every step along the way in this WE scandal, and of course in previous transgressions by not just the Liberal government but by past Conservative governments as well.
What appears to be clear is that there's very little staff safeguarding against these repeated conflicts, that there are no systems and principles in place to ensure that a minister doesn't take a $40,000 paid trip.
I should note for the context, for Canadians watching, that in my riding of Hamilton Centre, the average household income is $43,000, just by way of context. It's significant, yet it appears that the rules just don't apply to some people, and that some people with power and access and privilege, it seems, can't help themselves from helping themselves.
It would be a misstep for us to go around the table, time and time again, every time there's a scandal, doing the “gotcha”. I'll admit that part of this is about that, about holding people accountable in the moment. I think, however, that it's incumbent on us, through this study—and I hope to get support from everybody—to come out of this committee with clear recommendations and systems and principles in place to ensure that we can restore the public's confidence in the government and in the government's integrity, because that is really, fundamentally, what's at stake, Madam Chair. I'll go so far as to say that in the public discourse, the public opinion of public office holders is so low that it's generally accepted that the transgressions that have happened are acceptable.
Why? Well, Liberals will say it's because Conservatives did it, and Conservatives will say it's because Liberals did it, and so on. At the end of the day, what I'm hoping for and what my colleagueMr. Charlie Angus has led towards in this regard is that as a committee we can come together in the true mandate of our committee, in a non-partisan way, to give very clear direction to future governments, future ministers, future holders of power about where their parameters are so that there could be no ambiguity there.
It is certainly my hope, given the testimony that's been provided by the government side and by the opposition, that we can all be aligned in support of Charlie Angus's motion to create this study, and then come out of it with concrete recommendations for the House to adopt that will strengthen these policies and procedures to ensure that staff adequately provide safeguards against the missteps of elected officials.
The question was put to Minister Garneau, “Have you read the Conflict of Interest Act?” His response was telling. He said, “I believe when I first came into office I would have access to all of those acts.” I know that as a new backbench MP in the fourth party opposition, it was brought to my attention that we had to read it and that we had to do an orientation session for it. It's in the mandate letters of ministers. Certainly the Prime Minister, in writing the mandate letters, understands this. I can't accept that these are just lapses in judgment. This is a culture of ethical permissiveness.
I'm calling on the support of the members of this committee. I look forward to hearing their feedback. I'm sure there will be conversations around past judgments regarding our party as well, and how standards are applied to different parties in different scenarios. I'm here for that.
I appreciate the indulgence of this committee and ask for their support.