Thank you, Madam Chair.
I won't rehash what's been said around the table, but I agree with just about all of it.
It's understandable to want to achieve an effective motion that can be adhered to, while ensuring it's based on common sense, in other words, a motion that doesn't require people to investigate their families.
I have a simple amendment. I propose wording the last paragraph in a way that's similar to the first.
Where it says, “the letter should require that all Members of Cabinet disclose whether they, their families or their relatives”, I would remove the words “whether they, their families or their relatives” and add “to the best of their knowledge”.
The motion would therefore require members to disclose whether, to the best of their knowledge, their immediate family members have connections to WE.
The honourable member opposite, Mr. Drouin, brought up the possible challenge around defining what constitutes a connection. I don't think we should become too obsessive about this.
Here's the question I would ask myself. If I were a member of cabinet, how would I respond? If I were asked whether every person in my family and everyone I knew, including my friends, had connections to WE, I would find that onerous. Mr. Fergus explained it well. It can be complicated to find out whether the neighbour you go out for beers with once every couple of weeks has a family member with connections to WE.
It's not about asking people to investigate their neighbours or family members. However, if I were asked whether, to the best of my knowledge, members of my family or my friends had connections to WE, and if I knew that my sister or nephew had worked for WE, I would say yes. If I knew that that person had been involved in a cocktail fundraiser, a speaking event or anything else, I would say yes. Keep in mind, I wouldn't even have to ask my sister whether she had connections to WE, because the information would be “to the best of my knowledge”.
Although I understand the concerns raised and I recognize that they are, indeed, legitimate, I think we could quell them by asking members whether, to the best of their knowledge, members of their immediate family have connections to WE.
That's the amendment I propose, Madam Chair.