Mr. Chair, since the minister cannot answer my question even though he was in India and is working closely with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, I would like to introduce the following motion, which I sent to the committee earlier this week:
That pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the Committee invite the Prime Minister's National Security Advisor, Daniel Jean, to provide the committee with the same briefing he gave to journalists on Friday, February 23, 2018, and that the briefing take place in public and no later than Friday, March 30, 2018.
I'm introducing this motion because the Conservatives and the New Democrats on this committee have serious questions about the Atwal case in India.
On February 23, the Prime Minister's senior adviser on national security told reporters that the officials responsible for the invitation sent to Mr. Atwal were officials from India. This created a diplomatic incident with India. On February 27, the Prime Minister confirmed in the House of Commons what Mr. Jean said. Then the Minister of Foreign Affairs mentioned that the invitation was from Canada's officials. The MP for Surrey Central, Mr. Sarai, confirmed that the invitation came from him. Mr. Atwal also confirmed that the invitation was from Canada, not from India. So we have two versions of the facts now.
Parliamentarians have the right to know what happened in India. The briefing was given publicly to journalists. We should be able to receive the briefing as well. That's why I think the committee should pass this motion.
In addition, Liberal members of the committee can vote independently, with full freedom of conscience. At his last appearance, the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness confirmed that he was not responsible for giving direction to the committee and that its members were independent. If the Liberal members vote against the motion, we can assume that the Prime Minister's Office makes the decisions.
We need to shed some light on this. I think Liberal Party members would also like to shed light on this diplomatic incident that is serious for Canada.