Don't heckle me, Mr. Cooper. I am making a point here. Don't do it. Just don't...not today.
The Conservatives are holding up everything to be somebody, rather than to do something. What's worse is that the Bloc and the NDP are propping them up to do it. I think that's even worse because, at the very least, Chair, the Conservatives are honest about what they want to do. They want to delay government work. They don't want any work to happen within this committee. They don't want any semblance of functionality within our democratic institutions.
What is terrible is that the Bloc and the NDP prop them up, and this motion is blatantly, obviously, a jamming tactic to delay and just stop the function of all of the work that we are able to do within our committee. It is deplorable that we are not able to get to the work that we should be doing on this committee. It is deplorable that the Conservatives think that it is their privilege to stop the work that we have spent hundreds of years building within our democratic institutions and to set precedents that we should not be setting, all because they want to be somebody.
Can you imagine?
Chair, I do not agree with the premise of this motion at all. I do not agree that, when witnesses don't provide the answers that the opposition is looking for, it leads to a violation of the privilege of a member. I do not believe in the genuineness of this motion.
As I have outlined, this motion was drafted way before it was presented, way before the Conservatives had even finished asking their questions, so this is all a ploy. I refuse to buy into this ploy. I will continue to stand up for the democratic values of our Parliament.
Mr. Cooper can snicker at it, as he has been doing all evening. However, unlike him, democratic values mean something to me, and unlike him, the work that we do in this committee means something to me. I will continue to stand up for the work that we do. I will continue to ensure that this work is protected and that the sanctity of this place is maintained, regardless of who wants to be somebody, as opposed to doing something for Canadians.
Thank you, Chair.