To answer Ms. Gallant's question about where the environment is, not everybody watches what happens in this committee. There are a lot of avenues. Anything that did happen in this committee would make its way to the public via the media. That would be the most reasonable place for him to tell his story and that is what he has already hinted that he'll be doing.
My concern with the amendment.... I really do appreciate Mr. Garrison for bringing this forward. The one thing I'll say about Mr. Garrison is that in the time he's been on this committee he has genuinely tried to collaborate and find alternatives and vehicles forward and I really appreciate that. My concern is with something that Mr. Martel said but also something that is being said by all members of the committee. Mr. Martel said, and I quote, through the translation, that if Liberals refuse, then they must have something to hide.
You're setting up a scenario where there could be no other option. The option is either you're going to do this or you have something to hide, but there is another option. It's the option of whether or not this is the right place and the right forum for this to occur.
When you make comments to the effect of “if Liberals refuse, they have something to hide”, you're making this hyper-political and partisan. The question is whether that belongs in a case that has been heavily looked over by the RCMP and the Public Prosecution Service, when they've clearly indicated that there is no evidence to suggest that political interference occurred.
I'm just really concerned about the hyperpartisan approach that is being taken by the Conservatives, so to bring an individual here for that purpose, in my opinion, would feed nothing more than that appetite.