I was going to sit out this filibuster, but I do feel compelled to go on the record and state that there's a certain amount of sanctimony that I've heard here, trying to direct members of Parliament in terms of what they can and can't do at committee, as protected by our parliamentary privileges, our ability to send for documents and other information. To suggest that somehow the government is going to direct how other members of Parliament do their business is a bit sanctimonious, from my perspective.
I would also state that the public is not stupid. People who are tuning in.... If there's anybody tuning in to this livestream, I don't know. To simply disregard the fact that the person in question has called for it and then to spend this time in a filibuster, that's the waste of time, quite frankly. This should have just been voted for and moved on. We would have gotten the information. I don't know. I'm sure Morneau doesn't tune into this stuff anymore, but to call his resignation a nothingburger is a bit of stretch, in my opinion.
I'll be supporting it. I think I would love to see a government that actually is open by default, and on these simple matters that we not just get bogged down in procedural shenanigans.
I think half the committees that are in operation right now are filibustered. That's the waste of time. I want to go on the record and just say that we retain certain rights as members of Parliament, which does not preclude our having to explain every single aspect of our line of thinking to anybody in this committee, quite frankly. When the information comes back, surely there will be fulsome debates if there's relevant information to this committee. If it's a nothingburger, then McCauley's got to eat it.
I just think back to that saying, thou doth protest too much.