Thank you, Chair.
When I look for subterfuge, I usually don't go to the top of a document; I usually go to the end, because that's where they like to hide it. And that's where the evil intent usually lies.
So I'm looking at the last line of this motion, and here's what it says: “That no summary of evidence be included in the draft report”. Summaries of evidence are rich in detail, they're helpful in understanding the nuances of what went on at these proceedings, and they provide the Canadian public with an understanding of what went on here.
I ask myself, where do government proceedings not have summaries of evidence? I think in Cuba they wouldn't have summaries of evidence, because in Cuba they just knock on your door in the middle of the night and then you disappear and nobody sees you for years. Of course, that's the kind of thing that would happen in North Korea as well, the same kind of thing. There are no summaries of evidence because they just say what happens and hear what happens. And of course they don't have summaries of evidence in Iran because they're dictators--the ayatollahs and Ahmadinejad--and if you get on the wrong side of them, your life isn't worth anything, so they don't have summaries of evidence.
It's obvious here, Chair, that the coalition are using their majority to censor what Canadians hear. We've sat here for three days in this committee, at their request, and heard evidence from four ministers now. I didn't count the hours. I think it's about nine or ten hours. They don't want the Canadian public, through the media who are here today, to hear that.
Then I go to the top of the page, and maybe I should have gone there first, because at the top of the page it says, “That the draft report be no longer than two pages in each official language”. This is an incredible attempt to silence Parliament. When you hear this much evidence on these committees, what you would normally get is a report that might be 15, 20, or 30 pages long. The opposition coalition are demanding that this committee produce a report that has no summaries and is no more than two pages long. This motion itself is one full page, and it's a foolscap page.
The opposition have the information they asked for, all the evidence we've heard in the last two and a half to three days now, and they have this. They complained about getting too much information after complaining they didn't have enough information.
Chair, if there is any contempt for Parliament here, it's contempt here and now expressed by the opposition coalition for this committee, and indirectly through this committee to Parliament. They're asking us to work in the dark. They're asking to leave Canadians in the dark regarding what we did here for these three days. I simply say to Canadians, here is the coalition. How do you like it so far?
Thank you.