Procedure and House Affairs Committee on May 9th, 2017

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

I was there before Max.

[Filomena Tassi, Liberal, Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, ON]

So at that point, you realized—did the security person say to you, they had no idea how long this was going to be, you might be stuck there? You just made a decision on your own that you had to get moving.

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Absolutely.

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

I don't know if Max was there at the time. I saw the media bus pass me by as I was standing at the bottom. The media bus hadn't passed through before I started waiting for the bus at the bottom of the Hill.

[Filomena Tassi, Liberal, Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, ON]

I see.

So the first bus to be stopped was the bus that you wanted to get on?

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

Yes, for sure.

Then the media bus went through.

To be honest, I think it's fair to say that perhaps somebody in the protective service knew that it had to do with the motorcade and perhaps the person made an assumption it was the Prime Minister's motorcade and not the motorcade associated with the media bus that was preventing the buses from going up on the Hill. That's a fair mistake.

But what we were told is what we were told.

[Filomena Tassi, Liberal, Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, ON]

Hearing the new evidence certainly makes sense to you, and you wouldn't dispute that. Okay.

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

I don't dispute the facts but I do dispute the decision that was taken to not let us onto the Hill.

[Filomena Tassi, Liberal, Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, ON]

What suggestion would you make to prevent that from happening?

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

First of all, the communication between the security agency and the security on the ground and the RCMP was not very conclusive. They didn't know and I was waiting for a real answer. The official who asked a question didn't get an answer. Nobody was able to answer why they were waiting. I think the communication between the House security people and the RCMP is lacking.

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

I don't know what happened on the buses. I assume there were members on the bus because that's what I heard in the investigation report. I would assume a conversation with those who were either waiting and were visible to the officers...because we were clearly visibly waiting in a bus shelter for them to explain to us that there was not going to be access to the Hill through the bus system.

However, that being said, I don't know whether or not they knew there was a vote and the importance of getting to the vote.

I would suggest that the committee think a little about education on that side of it; the importance of a vote and what it means. I'm hoping that this kind of discussion prompts that awareness.

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

That's your time, Filomena.

Mr. Richards, you're next.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Thanks, Mr. Chair.

It's an exciting day for this committee because potentially we have the future leader of the Conservative Party here with us today, one of these two members, and probably the Prime Minister of Canada in 2019. It's a great start because you're being far more open and accountable than the current Prime Minister by being here and answering their questions fully and completely.

This is wonderful. Here would be a great start for our future leader and a future Prime Minister.

[David Christopherson, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Which one? Which one are you endorsing?

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Well, I guess that remains to be seen. I've sent my ballot in, and both were on my ballot. I won't say in which order, but both were on my ballot.

There are a couple of things I want to ask.

First, I'll get into some logistics, but I want to talk after that—just so you are prepared—a little bit about what breach of parliamentary privilege means. Obviously, what it means is, it's not just your rights, it's the rights of your constituents that were prevented from being exercised when you were prevented from voting. I want to get to some logistics first, but I want you to maybe have an opportunity at the end to tell us about the impact that had on your constituents, if you have heard concerns from constituents about the fact that you were prevented.

First of all, I want to follow up on some of the questions already. In regard to the media bus, I know, Lisa, you mentioned already that you had actually seen the bus.

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

I did.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

I'll ask you and then Maxime to tell me if you actually saw the bus as well. Was the bus coming in or was it exiting?

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

The bus turned off.... I don't know the name of the street that comes off Wellington that you go on in order to come up to the Hill, but it turned off of that street, and it just went right past us. The bollards came down, and the bus proceeded up onto the Hill.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

So it was entering onto the Hill.

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

It was entering in, and it was full of reporters and journalists.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

It seems a bit odd that there was some confusion about.... They were talking about the PM's empty motorcade leaving, and then what you saw was the media bus entering. I'm just wondering if maybe there isn't more to this than we realize. I'm not suggesting there is, and something we might want, Mr. Chair, is get the video footage from whatever angles exist so we can actually see if there was, in fact, anything outside of the media bus that was interfering, because it does seem like there was some confusion amongst the parliamentary protective service as to what did occur. I'll mention that we should maybe request that video.

Max, did you see the bus as well?

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

No, I didn't see the media bus. I arrived at the bus shelter just a little bit after my colleague the MP from Milton.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Now, Lisa, when you saw the bus enter, there was obviously a delay after that and prior to the gates being opened, so you don't know exactly how long it was before they were opened. You decided to make your way up the Hill on foot, but from the time you saw that bus go through until the time that you would have arrived at the members' doors to enter the Parliament Buildings, how long was that?

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

Seven minutes.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

That was about seven minutes?