Thank you, Madam Chair.
The way in which you and Mr. Vellacott are using my comments is shocking and completely out of place, in my opinion. At no time did I question the quality of the work done by the team of writers and analysts who support us here. They know how much I respect them.
I believe Mr. Komarnicki accurately summarized Mr. Martin's position with respect to what he told us in December. It was not Mr. Martin's intention to support this motion, which would have us use a report from another committee. That is what that motion proposes that we do.
This is not a question of interpretation on our part. That is what Mr. Martin realized when he told us in December that he had changed his mind, because of the way this motion was going to be used. We had understood the intent, and so had the Liberals. And the reason we voted against it was precisely because we were concerned about how it would be used.
Now, when I say that Mr. Martin accidentally voted in favour of the motion, that may not be the correct way of putting it, Madam Chair. I go back to the explanation given by Mr. Komarnicki, who believes that he changed his mind after realizing there was another intent behind the motion. That is possible.
Furthermore, Madam Chair, there is no need to lecture us as you did earlier, or to say that this is not a kindergarten. You gave the same lecture to Ms. Folco before the holidays. Now you have just repeated it for my sake. We are all adults here. There is no need to treat us in that manner, Madam Chair.
In terms of pointing out to me that a term may not be appropriate, I can accept that because it happens from time to time that the correct term is not used. I accept that and I think it is perfectly appropriate to make that point.
The real issue is whether the long-form census is a useful, indeed critical, tool for the people and organizations that use it. And the answer is yes, it is, according to all the testimony we heard.
If the Conservatives want to try and find contrary testimony somewhere else, then they themselves can refer to that contrary testimony presented elsewhere. However, that is not what we heard here. We must preserve the authenticity of our work, by relying on what we heard here.