Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister seems to be making a distinction between a letter of support and any letter of representation. The letters sent by the colleagues of the minister of heritage are indeed letters of support, of direct interference in the affairs of the CRTC.
The Prime Minister had made a commitment to demand irreproachable conduct from his ministers and he even made it one of his priorities in the red book. Yet, he failed his first test miserably. He chose to forgive and forget without first consulting the ethics counsellor.
How can the Prime Minister, who claims to be concerned about integrity, explain to this House that he did not personally direct his ministers, as soon as they were sworn in, to consult the ethics counsellor before getting into trouble like the minister of heritage and other ministers?