Again, the opposition members are raising concerns because they don't agree with the answers they got from a witness. They didn't hear what they wanted to hear. They gave their opinion repeatedly and even wrote editorials on Mr. Bains.
I don't know how things worked under the Conservative government, but I do know that Conservative ministers appointed members of certain boards and applied some pressure in that regard. However, that's not how we work on this side of the House. A number of witnesses have said multiple times that ministers did not apply any pressure and had absolutely nothing to do with the situation. We respect the decisions made by SDTC, even though there were violations. We acknowledge that, but it's time to stop with the witch hunts.
That's the problem, though. The Conservative members want a witch hunt at any cost. We understand that. They raised a question of privilege to try to stop what's going on in the House. It's funny since it happened right after Ms. Khalid proposed a very good motion to make clear that the committee respected the independence of the Office of the Auditor General in conducting its work. That's quite the coincidence. I imagine that the Conservatives don't respect the independence of the Office of the Auditor General when they aren't happy with its work. It's obvious that they aren't happy with the office's work.
Don't worry, Mr. Perkins, I'm coming back to the matter before us, but it's all connected. The committee has been going around in circles for months. Nothing Mr. Perkins, Mr. Nater, Mr. Cooper, Mr. Brock or Mr. Genuis have brought to the committee's attention in the past three months has been a big revelation.
Now members are asking questions about which witness consulted which witness. Witnesses who appeared before the committee under oath and told the truth have already been questioned, and now members are also accusing Mr. Bains of being dishonest because he was a Liberal minister. Members need to show some respect on this committee, Mr. Chair.
If they really want to know what happened, they need to respect all the reports that have been released and all the evidence the committee has received. I am calling on the members of the official opposition to ask sensible questions because their performance right now isn't at all impressive.
Thank you.