Mr. Chair, before I go into the merits and demerits of the motion, I wish to state at this time that I think this motion is actually out of order, because it is the Government of Canada that made the decision to close these consulates, not the officials of the department. It was the cabinet that made the decision. The motion is asking for the senior officials responsible for this decision, but they were not responsible for the decision; they had nothing to do with this decision. The decision was made by the government, and the department has nothing to do with the decision. Therefore, as it is worded, this motion is out of order.
On February 13th, 2007. See this statement in context.