In the three and half years I've had the privilege of serving on this committee, we've had a number of good days. We've gotten a lot of good things done when we've been able to put aside partisan differences and look at what is in the best interests of Canadians, the best interests of the law, but I have to say, this is not one of those days. This is the most disappointing day I've had on this committee. I really did believe...and, Mr. Chair, you said that we just dismissed this committee exercise out of hand with respect to our motion. That's not true. I have said many times publicly, on the record, that I have faith in the members on the Liberal side to put aside partisan differences, to put aside what is in the interests of the PMO and to do what is in the interests of Canadians. Sadly, Mr. Chair, I learned today that on this issue I was wrong.
What we learned today is that Liberal members on this issue, which speaks to corruption at the highest levels of the PMO, are nothing more than agents of the PMO, doing the bidding of the PMO. How do we know that? Very simply, when I along with Ms. Raitt asked a very straightforward question about how these three witnesses—the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General and the Clerk of the Privy Council—appeared on the list of witnesses to call, to the exclusion of individuals such as Gerald Butts, there was a lot of confusion over there. It was pretty clear that Mr. Boissonnault hadn't drafted the motion, but we got the answer that it was apparently the government House leader's office that was involved.
In other words, the government House leader was directing what Liberal MPs on this committee would bring forward. There we have it for the record. It's very clear. It's very plain. This is not a committee that, on the Liberal side, is acting independently and in the interests of Canadians. That's sad.
Let the record also show that when it came time to vote on Mr. Cullen's amendment, Liberal MPs voted against calling Gerald Butts, who met with SNC-Lavalin on multiple occasions, including on the issues related to justice and law enforcement. When given the opportunity to call Mr. Bouchard, who again met with SNC-Lavalin multiple times on justice and law enforcement issues, the Liberal MPs voted no. When it came time to vote on whether to call the most important witness, former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould, Liberal members voted no.
Mr. Boissonnault, parroting the Prime Minister's lines, cited the issue of solicitor-client privilege. The simple answer is that the Prime Minister can waive that privilege. I would hope that, in the interest of getting to the bottom of this, the Liberal MPs would agree that it's important that the Prime Minister stop the cover-up and unleash the former attorney general.
With that, I would like to propose an amendment to the motion. Mr. Chair, I will read my amendment:
That the committee call on the Prime Minister to immediately waive any purported solicitor-client privilege involving the—