Thanks, Chair.
Look, I may be the only person in Canada who woke up this morning wondering how John Diefenbaker got tickets to see the Beatles at Maple Leaf Gardens in 1967. I suspect fewer people woke up this morning wondering how any other politician, either now or ever, got tickets to a concert.
This motion is a colossal waste of time. It's unproductive. It's embarrassing for anybody watching this, if there is anybody other than staff members. If Canadians were to watch the debate that's taking place today during this committee, they would just shake their heads in shame, regardless of which party's talking.
I signed on this morning to help out one of my colleagues who couldn't attend. Then I see you, Mr. Chair, and I see Mr. Cooper—two people whom I've worked collaboratively with in the past and for whom I have a great deal of respect—and I sit back to watch the meeting, and what do I see? I see a bunch of name-calling. It looks like a schoolyard, as Mr. Fisher has pointed out. Ninety-five per cent of it is directed at one of my colleagues. She is no wallflower and she could defend herself, but the behaviour that I've witnessed at this committee is absolutely shameful.
I'll repeat myself: Anybody who watched this would think it's a disgrace. I think anybody who's been behaving in this way should just stand up right now, raise a point of order and say, “I'm sorry, that was really pathetic.”
If you look at this motion—I will end with this—it's so ridiculous, because nobody cares. It comes from Mr. Barrett, so I guess I shouldn't be the least bit surprised, considering his greatest contribution to Parliament that I've seen is baseless character assassination.
Mr. Chair, in the interest of preserving decorum, I would hope you would adjourn this meeting and put an end to the misery that we're all experiencing.
Thank you.