Public Accounts Committee on Oct. 9th, 2024

[Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, Bloc, Terrebonne, QC]

All right.

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

On a point of order, Mr. Chair, even though I'm sitting quite far away from my Conservative colleagues, I heard one of them call Mr. Bains a liar, which I think is not only disrespectful but also goes against our Standing Orders.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

Go ahead, Mr. Brock.

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

I'm sitting with my Conservative colleagues. I heard no such thing.

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

You laughed at it.

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

More importantly....

I laugh at many things. I didn't laugh at that, because I didn't hear it.

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

You laughed at it.

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

Chair, on that same point of order, I'm getting quite frustrated—and I'm sure other members are getting frustrated—by the obvious attempts of this particular witness, a former minister of the Crown, to deliberately waste time. He is not answering a direct question put to him and repeating the same talking lines over and over again—

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

Thank you, Mr. Brock, but—

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

—on the same testimony he gave at Industry on June 4, 2004.

I'm asking the chair to interject and get this witness to answer the question.

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

I have a point of order, Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

I have a couple lined up here.

Mr. Cooper, did you have a point of order you wanted to make?

No.

Okay, Ms. Khalid.

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

I would appreciate it if Mr. Cooper apologized to Mr. Bains for calling him a liar. We all know that when witnesses come to this committee they are under an obligation to be truthful. I know for a fact that Mr. Bains has been a truthful and principled person, not just during his ministry but also in the work he's done throughout his entire life.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

I take personal exception not only to members of the Conservative Party laughing right now but also to an innocent person being maligned by the Conservatives. This is their go-to. It's their motto of hearing, time and time again.

It's absolutely unreasonable, Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

Why don't we hear from Mr. Cooper now?

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Well, on the same point of order, perhaps Mr. Bains can apologize to taxpayers for $400 million—

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

Thank you.

Okay, ladies and gentlemen.

[An hon. member]

Retract those comments.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

Okay. All right.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

That happened when he was the minister.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

My job is to....

Order. Order.

The Standing Orders lay out my role, which is to attempt to maintain order and hope to succeed with that.

In terms of any kind of censure, that needs to be reported to the House, if you wish to pursue it.

I'm going back to Madame Sinclair-Desgagné.

Ms. Sinclair‑Desgagné, you have about two minutes.

[Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, Bloc, Terrebonne, QC]

Fellow members, we are trying to do our job. As far as I'm concerned, this witness is a key witness in our study on SDTC. Therefore, I would like him to answer my questions, which are clear, and I would like members to stop interrupting my questions. I am simply trying to do my job, here.

Mr. Bains, did Mr. Noseworthy have anything to do with the process to select Ms. Verschuren, yes or no?

[Navdeep Bains]

There was a panel set up as part of this new process—