Thank you, Madam Chair.
Colleagues, thank you.
I apologize to any of my colleagues who had more questions for the Parliamentary Protective Service. I feel and I think a number of my colleagues here feel—at least those on the Conservative side—that we haven't fully gotten to the end of where the issue lies, insofar as coming up with appropriate recommendations and finding out what truly happened are concerned. There seem to be enough inconsistencies in the testimony on whether information was or wasn't shared between parties.... We've heard clearly and have seen through the documents and some of the testimony given that certain lists were vetted, that information was shared, it was said, that wasn't supposed to be shared between parties, and we haven't come to a clear understanding of how Mr. Hunka was invited and who ultimately should have done the reputational vetting portion.
I don't believe that we can do that, Madam Chair and colleagues, until we actually hear from the person central to the invitation, who is our former Speaker, colleague and, frankly, friend, Mr. Rota, and some of the staff he would have been engaged with who directly reported to him. We've heard from the House of Commons administration. We've heard from parliamentary protocol. We've heard from Government of Canada protocol. There are enough inconsistencies, I believe, in the information, such that we actually need to figure out not only how Mr. Hunka was recognized in the House of Commons, but how he also was further invited by the Prime Minister to a fundraiser, a special event, an exclusive reception, as laid out in the motion, in Toronto, as a guest of the Prime Minister of Canada.
The reputational damage, I don't think we need to belabour any more. Everybody here acknowledges that, and if we want to have a fulsome set of recommendations, I believe, which would perhaps change the protocols for how we ensure that no further reputational damage is done while at the same being able to recognize and honour Canadians in the gallery.... Some of the more amazing things I've ever been able to do in the 18 plus years that I've been here have been to stand and applaud not only great leaders from around our country and abroad, but great human beings, and not only Canadians but people from abroad.
I would hate to think that with insufficient information, without fully understanding how this particular incident came to pass, we would make a recommendation that would somehow jeopardize our ability to be an open and free democracy willing to celebrate great achievements and great achievers, without fully understanding how we can vet to make sure that something as unfortunate as the Hunka incident doesn't happen again.
I would encourage my colleagues to consider this. The motion is written with good intent. I believe that there is still more information this committee can receive to help fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle, to help close the gap on the inconsistencies in the testimony that we've heard, so that we can come up with the best recommendations possible, not only for the betterment of our country but the betterment of this institution and the betterment of our democracy.
With that, I'll give up the floor.
Thank you, Madam Chair, for letting me speak to my motion.