Absolutely, Mr. Chair.
I certainly hope I'm not getting under anyone's skin when I bring up the idea that this looks like an appeasement. We have an obligation as opposition members to get to the bottom of how this negotiation happened. What is in the deal? If we have, on one hand, the Prime Minister telling us something that was clearly not true, and now on the other hand, he is telling us something else, how do we know which of those things we can move forward on? I think this is a very reasonable motion through which to ask for clarity.
What I would ask my Liberal colleagues is this: If you are so proud of this deal, and if you are so proud of the work that the Prime Minister and our ministers have done in negotiating this deal, then why would you not want an opportunity for the ministers to share that information with Canadians through this committee and through this motion? It seems to me that is a reasonable thing.
If you believe this is such a good-news story, as I've heard you say, I would think you would like the idea of bringing forward ministers so they can share your good-news story. It seems to me that when we have Liberal members of Parliament—members of this committee—not even trying to amend the motion but simply disagreeing with the motion in its entirety, that means you don't want to be held accountable for this agreement.
That's a problem, because Canadians want to know the details. They deserve to know the details. The confusion that was sowed by the Prime Minister already needs to be clarified. In fact, I'm curious why my colleague Mr. Albas didn't include the Prime Minister among the witnesses for this testimony. It would be nice to hear from him at a time when he doesn't have a cowboy hat on.
This is a pattern with the government. This is a pattern we have seen with the lack of transparency and clarity and the misinformation or disinformation coming from different ministers and the Prime Minister. The idea that an issue as big as this and as important as this to our economy.... We need the ability to ask ministers questions about it, to get to the bottom of it and to get some clarity on how this deal was struck, what Canadians are benefiting from and what Canadians are paying.
This is the motion, so for my part, New Democrats support this motion.
Thank you.