Madam Chair, I'm responding to Mr. Maloney's comments that the minister obviously feels that this will leave a gap in the law. Why else would he feel compelled to commit to bringing in legislation? That is the point, that is the concern and that's the foundation for why this bill is not ready to be passed.
The other thing that's extremely troubling for me—Mr. Maloney basically said the quiet part out loud—is that somehow the Liberals and NDP are using the passage of an extremely problematic and controversial private member's bill, which is completely irrelevant in the context of the Supreme Court decision, to hold up Mr. Housefather's study on anti-Semitism, which is urgent and timely. That's what's happening.
I want to be crystal clear: If we do not study the motion on anti-Semitism, which should begin on Monday, we're not going to allow members to use this extremely flawed private member's bill to delay that study.
If we're not studying the motion on anti-Semitism on Monday, it's because the Liberals and NDP don't want to study the motion on anti-Semitism on Monday. It is that clear. There is no rule. If members would like to point me to the rule that says we have to complete our study on this before we can study the anti-Semitism motion on Monday, I would love to see it.
The fact is, everyone around this table knows that there is nothing preventing us from starting that study. This is an attempt to blackmail committee members into moving on to a study by passing an extremely flawed bill.