Like the other members, I'm apprehensive about doing our business in private. These are public statements that anybody can determine. They were made before this committee and televised across the country. They were made before the Gomery commission and televised across the country. We're not dealing with some secret information that can't be made public, Mr. Chairman.
As Mr. Walsh has pointed out, while we may not be able to go all the way to a successful prosecution, the very fact that we have debated the statements here in public may be a serious warning to others who value their reputation that they should be more careful when there appear to be discrepancies.
I'm not sure we should do this in private, Mr. Chair, for that particular reason.
The bar is very high for us to report to Parliament, for Parliament to concur, for the prosecutor to concur and go to trial, and for the judge to concur, before you ever have any sanction. The only sanction would be the public notoriety of having your name on this particular issue. Since these statements were made voluntarily in public and televised, I think we should do it in public.