Mr. Speaker, I understand the hon. member's feelings and I sympathize with them.
From the point of view of parliamentary privilege I would ask you to consider whether what she is saying applies to matters that are extra-parliamentary or non-parliamentary. We are not talking about a sitting of the House of Commons. We are not talking about a sitting of one of its committees. We are talking about a meeting that officials decided to have with members of the press.
If the hon. member is right, does this mean that any MP has a right to go to any meeting officials have with the press or with interest groups, et cetera? Is there no right on the part of the officials, or the minister for that matter, to say that they are entitled to have under some circumstances what amount to private meetings?
While I understand the member's desire to be informed and it is commendable in terms of what she wants to do as critic for her party, I respectfully ask the Chair to consider whether what she is complaining about is, in fact, something parliamentary, raising all the rules and considerations of parliamentary privilege.