Chair, I will keep my comments brief.
I appreciate the comments made by Mr. Ehsassi. He spoke very well and I just want to add a few points to what he said.
We've heard in this committee from a number of very credible sources and very credible witnesses that, despite the cries by the opposition to frighten Canadians, the state of the rule of law in our country is very much intact. As Mr. Ehsassi outlined in his comments, this is not the first time this has happened and this is something that our minister and our Prime Minister are taking very seriously. I don't think we should be using our resources here in this committee as it is not the appropriate venue for such an investigation. We should be protecting and enhancing the freedom of the press, not bringing them in here and then questioning that freedom. It really is a cornerstone of our democracy and I think that we have to do our role as a justice committee to really ensure that we are protecting it.
Calling such emergency meetings, while it is absolutely the right of the committee members to do so, I think really takes away from a lot of important things that Canadians have sent us here to do. Just this morning we were gathered here to look at the strong impact that online hate has on Canadians and we've seen those strong impacts. As I'm sure Ms. Ramsey would agree as a woman here in politics, we've seen very strongly what those impacts are. I think we should continue to focus on those issues that matter to Canadians. We should continue to press on and ensure that Canadians are protected.
I understand the importance of this issue, but I don't think this is the right venue. I am in no way in favour of hauling in the press to question them about their sources. I think that is something we must protect.
I will strongly oppose the motion that's been put forward.