Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm listening to my Liberal colleagues trying to justify everything they're doing right now, and most notably, I heard Mr. May say earlier that none of the many veterans he meets talk about the monument and that they have other priorities.
Mr. May's words warrant a pause. Political interference was detected before it was too late. Everything that's going on right now confirms that there has been political interference in a formal government process. This is the first time in history that a political decision has changed the outcome of a process conducted by a jury of experts who did their work and selected a proposal.
We want to consult the documents and hear the explanations—that's why the motion is simple—so that the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs can know, in an official and detailed manner, why such a political decision was made and how it could be justified. That said, a government process was not followed. All the witnesses who appeared before the committee confirmed that.
We tried to tinker with the choice of location in 2014. Again, that was a political decision. At the time, Mr. O'Toole, who was the minister, proposed a piece of land. Some refused. That's why a formal process was put in place to select the monument and what needed to be done. That's why we had to rely on these experts and not engage in political interference.
We simply want to know what led to this political interference in such a process. This undermines the credibility of all government processes in the coming years. There could be other government projects. If there's political interference every time, professionals will no longer want to bid or invest money in these programs. What if a political decision were to interfere with their work? They will no longer want to commit to projects, fearing that someone will make another decision by saying whatever they want.
Stop telling us that we're holding up the project. That's not what we're looking for. There hasn't been a shovel in the ground yet, and a major breach of process has already occurred. Could we just settle this matter and get the documents? Then we can decide to continue or stop and go back to the original choice, depending on the decision that's made.
All Mr. Casey is saying is that if the group feels aggrieved, all they have to do is file a lawsuit. Once again, the burden is being placed on the shoulders of the group that won the competition. It's being suggested that they go to court against the Government of Canada, which has overridden a government process. Does it make sense to force a company that has done everything by the book to fight the federal government for its rights? We have the opportunity to find out what happened, and that's all we're asking for.
Let's stop playing games. Let's stop using all kinds of excuses. Let's vote on the motion. Let's have the documents that will allow us to move forward. Everyone will have clear information and the memory of the 158 soldiers who died in Afghanistan will be kept alive.
Thank you.