I'm going to challenge Madam O'Brien.
I'll go through the three incidents that have really bothered me because I think there were some systemic problems here outside the building.
When Peter Stoffer approached the RCMP they knew who he was. They called him by his first name and still told him he had to go back to his office. Peter didn't object. Peter quite frankly is prepared to do anything to cooperate with the security forces, I want to be clear on that, that's his position.
That was the situation with him.
Then Madame Laverdière approached security and was challenged. She presented her card and then was required to go back—this was on the east side—through the East Block and through the tunnel. My understanding is that other members of our caucus were also treated the same way. So even though they had their identification and presented it, which I don't believe they should have to, they still were required to go back and several of them were late for the start of Parliament that morning as a result of those extra few minutes it took them to do that.
When I was leaving the Hill that day, coming out of Centre Block carrying a piece of luggage because I was leaving to go back to the riding, a bunch of RCMP officers were out in front of the tower. I was planning on walking down that way to go get a cab. There was nothing going on at that time on the Hill. The Prime Minister of Israel had already left the Hill. There was nothing going on in front of the flame. There was literally nobody there. The RCMP recognized me, and I was still required to go around the east side and go down that way, an extra number of minutes in terms of getting to my cab.
Those are too many incidents, in particular the part with Madame Laverdière, because I quite strongly believe that more than one of our members was told—I think there were five or six of them—but I haven't been able to identify them.
I'd like your comments. But maybe before you do that, in terms of some of the briefing we had, it is the NDP position that we should not have to produce identification once we come on the Hill property, not just the buildings, not just the Centre Block, but on the Hill.
I sat in on part of the hearings when President Bush was here and we had all the problems with Bill Blaikie in particular. That was my understanding of what the procedure was to be—that as long as the MPs were on the Hill they did not have to produce identification. It was the requirement of the security forces, whoever they were, to allow us to have unimpeded access to the buildings.