Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
This subamendment preserves the spirit of the amendment, which is designed to give the opposition party leaders access to those documents. We in the NDP would always rather know than not know. We think knowledge is better than ignorance, unless people are trying to hide and evade their responsibilities. We would however like to add something extremely reasonable to the Liberal amendment. At the end of paragraph b), after the words “and examine the full report, including the confidential annex“, we would add the following: “provided those leaders are able to speak as freely about conclusions based on this intelligence as Mr. Johnston, the Prime Minister, and other members of privy council.”
The logic is simple. I think everyone would agree that it is better for the leaders of all the political parties to be on the same footing and to understand exactly what is at issue, for them not be muzzled and for them to be able to speak as freely as the Prime Minister and the special rapporteur, Mr. Johnston. Mr. Johnston has tabled a report and given interviews, some short, others longer and more detailed, while preserving the confidentiality of some of the more sensitive information. It is sensitive information for our police services and secret services, and its disclosure could have an impact on national security.
We all agree that the federal party leaders should be able to see the information, but that they also have the responsibility not to jeopardize anything, including employees of the government, of public services, secret services and police services, for purely partisan reasons.
I may on occasion have criticized Mr. Johnston and his decision, which I do not necessarily agree with, but we must have access to the documents and be able to speak publicly in a responsible manner. The leaders must have access to the information and be able to speak about it, subject to the same restrictions as the Prime Minister, the special rapporteur, Mr. Johnston, and other members of the privy council.