Public Accounts Committee on Nov. 27th, 2024

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

I would encourage you not—

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

You can clap any time.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

—to encourage Mr. Perkins.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

I only have about another four or five hours in me.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

I would advise members to not make any sudden movements.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

Mr. Perkins, you have the floor.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Keep your hands and your feet away.

[An hon. member]

Don't make eye contact with him either.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Yes, you can do that kind of golf clap, the slow clap. You can speed it up, too, if you like.

On September 16, the opposition House leader raised a point of privilege, which was supported by both the Bloc and the NDP. On September 26, guess what happened.

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

I have a point of clarification, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

I think you mean a point of order. There's really no point of clarification, not really.

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

I have a point of order, indeed.

I am seeking clarity as to how long we have resources for in this room today.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

I'm good until the votes tomorrow.

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

I want to bring a change of clothes in that case.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

Pardon me. Mr. Perkins will have the floor in a second.

As you know, I keep the score clock in the same way a European football player does, so we will expire when we expire.

Mr. Perkins, you have the floor.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

I don't plan on expiring.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

We all do one day.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Speak for yourself.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

Order.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

On September 26, in case members are forgetting when that date was, probably one of the most partisan Speakers in the country's history, the current occupant, the Liberal MP who occupies the seat, actually went against the government and said that it breached the privilege of the House. The government breached the privilege of the House because it didn't provide the documents. Now, it wasn't about whether or not the government provided 10 documents, 20 documents or 60,000 documents; it's about the nature of what it did to the documents. The government edited them, and the edit came from an order from the Privy Council Office. We know that. The Privy Council Office ordered the editing, and the Privy Council Office, of course, works for the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister's chief of staff.

What was the order that the Prime Minister decided he wanted to do to defy Parliament—that he has so little respect for the elected people?

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

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

If it suits you, Mr. Chair, I would seek perhaps a five-minute health break for members at the table—

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

No.

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

—and especially for our staff and for interpreters who have been at it for a very long time.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

I know you'll miss the show, but folks are free to leave the room to do what they have to do.

Mr. Perkins has the floor.