Thank you, Chair.
I'm troubled by this. I think there are a couple of things, and I'm just speaking my own mind.
The issue of the “not” is not something I'm preoccupied with. What I am.... When the Speaker said this must have presented a stinging rebuke to CIDA officials, having to go through this, the Speaker was concerned about the effect this was also having on the ministry. I think that's a valid case.
I think we have a case here in which a decision was made—and I understand the government has the right to make its decisions—but when it really got hot and it got difficult and many of us were asking those questions, at that particular point the responsibility was placed on the ministry, that the ministry had made this decision. I think that's a very serious thing. CIDA is a ministry, and its people signed off on it and thought that Kairos should go ahead. Kairos themselves said they had been encouraged by CIDA to do that.
So my concern is much more not just what the minister said or apologized for, but we have to be very careful when we decide not to take the responsibility when this comes out and suddenly let CIDA bear the brunt of what's going on. I don't think that's right. I don't think any minister should let the department take the hit for something they've made the decision on.
So that's why I think the matter of privilege matters. I think CIDA matters. It matters to all of us--that's part of the reason we're on this committee: that CIDA was left to carry the load, even until today, until finally the minister expanded on that a little more. I think that was part of the Speaker's comments—the effect on the ministry—and I think as the committee that's in charge of that, we have to take it seriously.