I won't speculate. I raise it as a possibility only to make the point that this has now turned into theatre. This has now turned into a sideshow. Mrs. Shanahan and I both used the term that this is now.... We threaten to open up a kangaroo court here. I can't believe it.
We're asking the CRA and its public servants to break the law. We have a motion and an amendment related to that motion that offers no protections for public servants whatsoever. It's something the Conservatives haven't thought about on that front. They haven't thought about what the overall impact of their motion would be in terms of the organizations they clearly care so much about. I think that we should be neutral in anything that we raise here and that we should be as objective as possible.
I have no particular affinity for the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation. It has provided scholarship support to outstanding graduate students. On its board have sat noted Conservative politicians—not just politicians but giants of the Canadian conservative political tradition. Bill Davis, I believe, was on its board—former premier of Ontario. A former premier of Alberta, Peter Lougheed, was involved. This is an organization that's done good work. However, we're seeing the entire debate around it politicized.
There's the impact that this would have in terms of a precedent. I've already noted that. The path forward here opens the door to either this committee's or some future committee's looking at the Conservatives and saying, “Well, there are organizations that your party cares so much about. Let's look in, and let's examine that further.”
Like I said, I don't have a particular affinity. I'm not tied to the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation, but this is the implication of what the Conservatives are raising.
I would love to hear Mr. McCauley's point that he wants to make.