Thank you, Chair. I welcome the new members to the justice committee as we talk about this. I must say that I have a lot of issues with the speculation that Mr. Cooper has put forward in his remarks.
Mr. Chair, I really appreciate that you started off by assuring everybody how non-partisan and how cordial we have been able to act here as a committee. We are independent and have not been influenced in any way in what we are deliberating here today.
I would remind Mr. Cooper that the words of the motion do not limit the witness list to what is here proposed. These are, as the Chair said, the witnesses who have agreed to come forward. It's not a complete list of witnesses.
The way we've really conducted our committee over the past number of years has been to have discussions. In camera discussions are very normal in how we come up with our witness lists, so I really encourage my friends opposite to not make political hay out of this. Putting up our phone numbers on the Liberals' platforms and social media is really not the way to go. I think that amounts to bullying. We have been and continue to be a very independent committee, and I think the discussion today is really as independent as it gets.
I stand by the integrity of this committee. I know that in the past we have had many robust discussions about how we conduct ourselves, about the various bills and studies that have passed through this committee, and we've done well in how we've been able to have those discussions and to understand exactly what it is we're doing for Canadians. Absolutely, Canadians have a right to know how their government functions. Absolutely, we run on a platform and I, as the member for Mississauga—Erin Mills, absolutely agree that the government should be open and transparent, and we have been.
I think the motion before us today really speaks to how open and transparent we are. We're willing to look into this. We're willing to look into the relationship among the attorney general and the Prime Minister's Office and our colleagues in general. As we delve into this, I think we'll have a clear picture that Canadians really deserve to know what the nature of that relationship is. We, as a committee, have that duty and obligation, and I stand by my colleagues in making sure that Canadians have the right to know and will ensure that they do have that.
At the same time, I don't appreciate the political posturing that is going on here, the hay that is being created out of nothing. I would look forward to hearing what our permanent members of the justice committee have to say about witnesses and how we can come to a consensus as to how we move forward with this study and provide the clarification that Canadians deserve on this issue. I am very happy to support the motion that is before us today and I look forward to providing that clarification.