Sorry. I wouldn't have eaten into Mr. Graham's time if I'd known I was about to go next.
It seems we're moving into debate here. The rules seem to me to be quite clear in this matter, and this does constitute a breach of privilege. We can review the rules.
I think what is being asserted by the Liberals is that a convention has developed of saying that if the rules are violated in this way, it's just a pro forma violation. We can all live with it. We ought not to be objecting to it. Conventions do from time to time develop, both that something that is formally prohibited is in practice permitted and the reverse. Something that is formally permitted is beyond the pale of acceptable behaviour. That then becomes something that is prohibited and practised. We all get the point that if the Governor General started vetoing laws, which in theory he could do legally, we would start looking for a replacement Governor General because he would have gone beyond what is conventionally acceptable behaviour.
I think the Liberals are arguing that a convention has developed. I'm willing to accept that the Liberals have developed this kind of conventional point of view because they did not move questions of privilege when these items they've pointed to.... I think Mr. Graham's case is less convincing than Ms. Vandenbeld's, but that's why I've asked to see the articles, so I can see if the facts correspond with the assertions.
If they failed to move questions of privilege at that point, that suggests that they'd accepted a certain way of behaving, which they now seek to turn into a modus vivendi, a way of operating, all the time in the future. If we say this was okay, then we are saying that this will happen every time. This will become the standard of behaviour. The Liberal government will always be releasing select details—not all the details came out— of its legislation ahead of time. I accept the fact that they will not be doing this on budgets, as clearly there's a very strict rule that we all accept in that regard, but it looks to me as though they are trying to move in that direction.
Therefore I implore colleagues not to go in the direction of saying that this was okay and that this is somehow what the new standard should be. That is effectively saying that Parliament, the House of Commons, will be sidelined. This will be the status quo from now on. Indeed, that is the exact assertion that the Liberals are making right now, that the Liberals were advised to make. Your research bureau did good work and got you those points, but it was an unacceptable practice. If it ever happened in the past, it's unacceptable now. Our convention should be to say Parliament, the House of Commons, is where legislation is revealed.
Let's be clear about the leak that occurred with regard to Bill C-14. It was meant to turn the debate in a certain direction. It was meant to have the effect of causing opposition on the side saying the bill doesn't go far enough to gel rather than opposition on the side saying that the bill goes too far. It's a very clever and, I might say, a very successful communications strategy based on what's happened since that time. But it gutted Parliament's role in this process. It was unacceptable. It was wrong. There is no excuse for it happening. I come down on the side of saying the convention should be that we follow the letter of the rules and not that we deviate from them.
That's all I have to say. Thank you.